Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells produce pre-pro-nociceptin/orphanin FQ mRNA.

BACKGROUND Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) transcribe mRNA for the nonclassical opioid nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) receptor (NOP). We probed for the N/OFQ precursor, pre-pro-N/OFQ (ppN/OFQ). METHODS Using PBMC from 10 healthy volunteers we probed for ppN/OFQ using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based experimental paradigms. RESULTS In gel-based PCR, we detected amplicons consistent with ppN/OFQ mRNA in all samples. This was confirmed in quantitative real-time PCR with cycle thresholds (representing quantity of mRNA) of 30.91 +/- 0.18 (n = 10). CONCLUSIONS These data indicate that PBMCs transcribe ppN/OFQ which, coupled with NOP expression, suggest NOP may be involved in the autoregulation of PBMCs.