Molecular control of δ-opioid receptor signalling

Opioids represent widely prescribed and abused medications, although their signal transduction mechanisms are not well understood. Here we present the 1.8Å high-resolution crystal structure of the human δ-opioid receptor (δ-OR), revealing the presence and fundamental role of a sodium ion mediating allosteric control of receptor functional selectivity and constitutive activity. The distinctive δ-OR sodium ion site architecture is centrally located in a polar interaction network in the 7-transmembrane bundle core, with the sodium ion stabilizing a reduced agonist affinity state, and thereby modulating signal transduction. Site-directed mutagenesis and functional studies reveal that changing the allosteric sodium site residue Asn131 to alanine or valine augments constitutive arrestin-ergic signaling. Asp95Ala, Asn310Ala, and Asn314Ala mutations transform classical δ-opioid antagonists like naltrindole into potent β-arrestin-biased agonists. The data establish the molecular basis for allosteric sodium ion control in opioid signaling, revealing that sodium-coordinating residues act as “efficacy-switches” at a prototypic G protein-coupled receptor