Abstract
Mammalian brain extracts contain a substance, ''enkephalin'', which competes for opiate receptor binding in a highly selective fashion. This material behaves in opiate receptor assays as an opiate agonist, with its effects enhanced by manganese and decreased by sodium. The regional distribution of enkephalin parallels that of the opiate receptor itself. Enkephalin activity is degraded by carboxypeptidases A and B and leucinaminopeptidase as well as by chymotrypsin, but is resistant to trypsin and neuraminidase. Thus enkephalin appears to be a peptide. Gel filtration experiments indicate a molecular weight of about 1000.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 504-513 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Molecular Pharmacology |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| State | Published - Dec 1 1976 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Molecular Medicine
- Pharmacology