Award
NIH Reporter #7R01DA031927-12
Novel Probes of the Kappa Opioid Receptor: Chemistry, Pharmacology, and Biology
Recipient
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Award Amount
$723,119.00
Ceiling
$723,119.00
Awarded
March 19, 2026
Identifier
7R01DA031927-12
This award funds research at the University of South Florida to develop novel kappa opioid receptor agonists that may provide therapeutic benefits without typical side effects, aiming to improve treatments for conditions like anxiety and pruritus.
Description
Development of new kappa opioid receptor (KOR) agonists with diverse signaling profiles to correlate cellular signaling properties to favorable effects such as antipruritic, anxiolytic, and non-sedating properties in mice. The project aims to generate diverse chemical probes to test if biased agonism correlates with fewer side effects and to identify compounds capable of fine-tuning KOR responsiveness.