Gene expressions of opioid receptors and G-proteins in pineal glands.

In our previous studies, the opioid receptors located on pinealocytes have been identified and characterized, and these receptors have been found to play a stimulatory role in melatonin synthesis by activating the rate limiting enzyme, N-acetyltransferase (NAT). In the present study, by using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) followed by nested-PCR, segments of delta and mu opioid receptors have been amplified from mRNA of rat pineal gland and cerebral cortex. In addition, segments of delta and mu opioid receptors have also been amplified from mRNA of human pineal gland. Furthermore, G(alphai/o)- and G(beta)-protein-coupled receptor mRNAs have been amplified and identified from rat pineal gland. The regulatory effects of morphine on G(alphai/o) and G(beta) mRNA levels have been semiquantitatively analyzed. Acute morphine administration caused significant increase in G(alphai/o), and G(beta), mRNA levels in rat pineal gland, but not in other brain regions. Further studies are needed in order to elaborate the mechanisms of these opioid receptors in regulating G-protein expression in pineal gland.

[1]  F. Fraschini,et al.  Action of Morphine on Melatonin Release in the Rat , 1988, Journal of pineal research.

[2]  H. Matthes,et al.  The human delta-opioid receptor: genomic organization, cDNA cloning, functional expression, and distribution in human brain. , 1994, Molecular pharmacology.

[3]  M. Geffard,et al.  Dramatic increase in pineal melatonin levels in the rat after subcutaneous injection of des-tyrosine1-gamma-endorphin , 1981, Neuroscience Letters.

[4]  T. Gudermann,et al.  Diversity and selectivity of receptor-G protein interaction. , 1996, Annual review of pharmacology and toxicology.

[5]  W. D. Winters,et al.  Involvement of the pineal gland and melatonin in murine analgesia. , 1981, Life sciences.

[6]  M. Nishi,et al.  Structure and chromosomal mapping of genes for the mouse kappa-opioid receptor and an opioid receptor homologue (MOR-C). , 1994, Biochemical and biophysical research communications.

[7]  R. Frederickson,et al.  Hyperalgesia induced by naloxone follows diurnal rhythm in responsivity to painful stimuli. , 1977, Science.

[8]  C. U. M. Smith,et al.  Elements of molecular neurobiology , 1989 .

[9]  Y. Wong,et al.  Activation of Type II Adenylyl Cyclase by the Cloned μ‐Opioid Receptor: Coupling to Multiple G Proteins , 1995, Journal of neurochemistry.

[10]  J. Axelrod,et al.  The pineal gland. , 1970, Endeavour.

[11]  Stanley J. Watson,et al.  Cloning and pharmacological characterization of a rat μ opioid receptor , 1993, Neuron.

[12]  M. Ebadi,et al.  The presence and actions of opioid receptors in bovine pineal gland , 1992, Journal of pineal research.

[13]  P. Phansuwan-Pujito,et al.  Existence and function of opioid receptors on nammalian pinealocytes , 1998, Journal of pineal research.

[14]  A. Gilman,et al.  Type-specific regulation of adenylyl cyclase by G protein beta gamma subunits. , 1991, Science.

[15]  R. Reiter,et al.  Pineal opioid receptors and analgesic action of melatonin , 1998, Journal of pineal research.

[16]  E. Tzavara,et al.  Diurnal variation of the adenylyl cyclase type 1 in the rat pineal gland. , 1996, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[17]  H. Akil,et al.  Primary structure and functional expression of a guinea pig kappa opioid (dynorphin) receptor. , 1994, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[18]  V. Aloyo,et al.  Characterization and localization of delta opioid binding sites in the bovine pineal gland , 1993, Journal of pineal research.

[19]  G. Bell,et al.  Molecular biology of opioid receptors , 1993, Trends in Neurosciences.

[20]  David E. Clapham,et al.  New roles for G-protein (βγ-dimers in transmembrane signalling , 1993, Nature.

[21]  P. Sibony,et al.  Enkephalin-like immunoreactivity in neurons in the human pineal gland , 1988, Brain Research.

[22]  P. Eriksson,et al.  Altered amounts of G-protein mRNA and cAMP accumulation after long-term opioid receptor stimulation of neurons in primary culture from the rat cerebral cortex. , 1992, Brain research. Molecular brain research.

[23]  C. Kozak,et al.  Regional expression and chromosomal localization of the delta opiate receptor gene. , 1993, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[24]  G. Teskey,et al.  Ageing, opioid analgesia and the pineal gland. , 1983, Life sciences.

[25]  M. Satoh,et al.  Molecular biology of the opioid receptors: structures, functions and distributions , 1995, Neuroscience Research.

[26]  M. Abood,et al.  Molecular cloning and expression of a δ‐opioid recetpor from rat brain , 1994, Journal of neuroscience research.

[27]  A. Lewiński,et al.  Melatonin Inhibits Mitotic Activity of Adrenocortical Cells In Vivo and in Organ Culture , 1989, Journal of pineal research.

[28]  H. Kung,et al.  Mu opioid receptor gene expression in immune cells. , 1995, Biochemical and biophysical research communications.

[29]  S. Kaneko,et al.  Cloning and expression of a cDNA for the rat k‐opioid receptor , 1993 .

[30]  G. Wittert,et al.  Tissue distribution of opioid receptor gene expression in the rat. , 1996, Biochemical and biophysical research communications.

[31]  P. Chomczyński,et al.  Single-step method of RNA isolation by acid guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction. , 1987, Analytical biochemistry.

[32]  P. Phansuwan-Pujito,et al.  Opioidergic innervation of the tree shrew pineal gland: An immunohistochemical study , 1998, Journal of pineal research.

[33]  Y. Wong,et al.  Regulation of Multiple Effectors by the Cloned δ‐Opioid Receptor: Stimulation of Phospholipase C and Type II Adenylyl Cyclase , 1995, Journal of neurochemistry.