Sulfonic acid enkephalin: binding specificity to rat brain opiate receptors.

We tested sulfonic-acid enkephalin, a SO3H-Tyr derivative of the Leu-enkephalin, for its binding capacity to rat brain opiate receptors, by competition against several tritiated enkephalins. Using [3H]DADLE as the competitor, we demonstrated that sulfonic-acid enkephalin binds to rat brain opiate receptors, and using [3H]DSLET and [3H]DAGO as the competitors, we demonstrated that sulfonic-acid enkephalin binds preferentially to delta-opiate receptors. The affinity ratio of sulfonic-acid enkephalin for delta-opiate receptors versus mu-opiate receptors, is considerably higher than that of the parent compound, Leu-enkephalin, and of DADLE and is similar to the affinity ratio of DSLET for the same receptors.