Douglass J O, Civelli O, Birnberg N, Comb M, Uhler M, Lissitzky J C, Herbert E
Ann Neurol. 1984;16 Suppl:S22-30. doi: 10.1002/ana.410160706.
In the past three years it has been shown by recombinant DNA approaches that there are at least three different genes that code for opioid peptides. The basic structures of the three polyprotein precursor molecules from which bioactive opioid peptides are derived are remarkably similar. There are also similarities in the structure of the genes that code for these precursor molecules. Using immunological techniques, it has been shown that the levels of the opioid peptides can be regulated by altering the rates of protein processing or secretion. Recently, complementary DNA clones of the opioid peptide precursor molecules have been used as hybridization probes to determine that regulation also occurs at the level of gene expression (transcription of the opioid peptide genes).
在过去三年中，重组DNA方法已表明，至少有三种不同的基因编码阿片样肽。从中衍生出生物活性阿片样肽的三种多蛋白前体分子的基本结构非常相似。编码这些前体分子的基因结构也存在相似之处。利用免疫技术已表明，可通过改变蛋白质加工或分泌速率来调节阿片样肽的水平。最近，阿片样肽前体分子的互补DNA克隆已被用作杂交探针，以确定这种调节也发生在基因表达水平（阿片样肽基因的转录）。
