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A research team, led by scientists at the Center for Clinical Pharmacology at Washington University School of Medicine and the University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy in St. Louis, have altered the chemical properties of fentanyl and the way that it binds to opioid receptors on nerve cells. The goal is to improve the drug’s safety profile without eliminating its ability to alleviate pain.

The paper highlights the work of Susruta Majumdar, Ph.D., associate professor of medicinal chemistry and pharmacology at University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis, and his colleagues who examined the molecular differences between LFT and MP, and how they bind to MU opioid receptors.

In a recent study published in Nature Communications on November 17, 2022, Wayland Cheng, MD, PhD, and colleagues solved the structure of a pentameric ligand-gated ion channel in an open-channel conformation using single particle cryo-electron microscopy.

Joanna Abraham, PhD, FAMIA, associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Institute for Informatics, was elected a fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI).

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a five-year, $11.7 million grant to study human genes and nerve cells to better understand how cells transmit pain and to identify new ways to treat it.