Nociceptin receptors

The nociceptin receptor, also known as the NOP, ORL1 or N/OFQ receptor, is a G protein-coupled receptor initially classified as a member of the opioid receptor family based on structural homology to the opioid receptors, but later reclassified as a non-opioid member of the opioid system, as endogenous ligands for other opioid receptors, the mu, kappa, and delta receptors, showed little affinity for it. The endogenous peptide now known as nociceptin is a heptadecapeptide with pro-nociceptive properties.

Further reading

Zaveri (2016). Nociceptin Opioid Receptor (NOP) as a Therapeutic Target: Progress in Translation from Preclinical Research to Clinical Utility. J. Med.Chem. 59(15) 7011 PMID: 26878436

Calo and Lambert (2018) Nociceptin/orphanin FQ receptor ligands and translational challenges: focus on cebranopadol as an innovative analgesic. Pain 21 (5) 1105 PMID: 30336855

Khan et al (2018) A systematic review of the role of the nociceptin receptor system in stress, cognition, and reward: relevance to schizophrenia. Transl. Psychiatry 8 38 PMID: 29391391

Ding et al (2023) Nociceptin Receptor-Related Agonists as Safe and Non-addictive Analgesics. Drugs May 20 Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37209211