Purification
Purification of the receptor further verified its existence. The first attempt to purify the receptor involved the use of a novel opioid receptor antagonist called chlornaltrexamine that was demonstrated to bind to the opioid receptor Caruso et al., 1980 purified the detergent-extracted component of rat brain membrane that eluted with the specifically bound 3H-chlornaltrexamine.
Read more about this topic: Opioid Receptor