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Regulation of Mu Opioid Receptor Expression in Developing T Cells

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Abstract

We have previously reported that functionally active μ-opioid receptors (MOR) are constitutively expressed at relatively low levels by developing T cells in the thymus. However, very little is known about the regulation of MOR expression by immature T cells. In this report, we first attempted to determine the effect of T cell receptor-induced T cell activation on the expression of MOR. We activated T cells with either the combination of anti-CD3 and CD28, or with superantigen, and observed a substantial increase in MOR transcript expression. We also chose to examine the effect of cytokine-mediated T cell activation on the expression of this opioid receptor. We selected certain cytokines that play a role in T cell development and are known to be present at functional levels in the thymus gland. Our results show that interferon γ (IFNγ), IL-1β, and IL-2, and in particular transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ), all induced significant increases in MOR transcript expression. On the other hand, both TNFα and IL-7 exhibited much weaker effects on MOR expression. These results show that MOR expression by developing T cells is strongly regulated by several cytokines involved in T cell development in the thymus gland.

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Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no known conflicts of interest concerning the results reported in this manuscript.

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The authors wish to acknowledge the support from the National Institutes of Health for the following grant support: DA14230 (TJR), DA16544 (TJR), P30DA13429 (TJR), DA06650 (TJR).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Substance Abuse Research, Center for Inflammation, Translational and Clinical Lung Research, Temple University School of Medicine, 3400 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA

    Lily Zhang

  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Temple University School of Medicine, 3400 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA

    Judith Sliker Belkowski

  3. Center for Inflammation, Translational and Clinical Lung Research, Temple University School of Medicine, 3307 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA

    Tammi Briscoe

  4. Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology, Center for Inflammation, Translational and Clinical Lung Research, Center for Substance Abuse Research, Temple University School of Medicine, 3307 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA

    Thomas J. Rogers

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  1. Lily Zhang
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Zhang, L., Belkowski, J.S., Briscoe, T. et al. Regulation of Mu Opioid Receptor Expression in Developing T Cells. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 7, 835–842 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11481-012-9396-6

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