OBJECTIVES Opioid receptors mediate the cardioprotection of remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC). The authors tested the hypothesis that morphine reduces the threshold of cardioprotection produced by RIPC. METHODS A randomized, prospective study. SETTING A university research laboratory. PARTICIPANTS Forty-five male Sprague-Dawley rats. INTERVENTIONS Anesthetized, open-chest, male Spr...

Thymosins have been highly conserved during evolution. These hormones exist in many animal species and play an essential role in many biological events. However, little is known regarding the physiological function of silkworm Bombyx mori thymosin (BmTHY). In this study, we investigated the expression pattern of BmTHY in a Bombyx mori larval ovarian cell line (BmN) challenged with Bombyx mori n...

Quantitative studies to date on the effects of opioid consumption and abstinence on the nervous system using modern stereological methods have not received enough attention. In addition, they have yielded controversial results. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of morphine, with or without abstinence, on the neurons and oligodendrocytes of the medial prefrontal cortex (...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The majority of studies examining desensitization of the μ-opioid receptor (MOR) have examined those located at cell bodies. However, MORs are extensively expressed at nerve terminals throughout the mammalian nervous system. This study is designed to investigate agonist-induced MOR desensitization at nerve terminals in the mouse ventral tegmental area (VTA). EXPERIMENTA...

Using 5' RACE, we have isolated four additional exons of the mu opioid receptor gene (Oprm), resulting in a gene spanning over 250 kb. The four new exons are contained within eight additional splice variants containing exon 11 at the 5' terminus. Exon 11, which is under the control of a previously unknown upstream promoter, and exon 12 are located approximately 10 kb and approximately 8 kb upst...

Opioids mediate their analgesic effects by activating mu-opioid receptors (MOR) not only within the central nervous system but also on peripheral sensory neurons. The peripheral analgesic effects of opioids are best described under inflammatory conditions (e.g., arthritis). The present study investigated the effects of inflammation on MOR binding and G-protein coupling of full versus partial MO...

In this study, we report the cloning and characteristics of an adiponectin-like receptor gene from Bombyx mori (BmAdipoR) with highly conserved deduced amino-acid sequences and similar structure to the human adiponectin receptor (AdipoR). Structural analysis of the translated cDNA suggested it encoded a membrane protein with seven transmembrane domains. BmAdipoR was found to be expressed in mul...

Morphine and related µ-opioid receptor (MOR) agonists remain among the most effective drugs known for acute relief of severe pain. A major problem in treating painful conditions is that tolerance limits the long-term utility of opioid agonists. Considerable effort has been expended on developing an understanding of the molecular and cellular processes that underlie acute MOR signaling, short-te...

Transcription of bacteriophage Mu occurs in a regulatory cascade consisting of three phases: early, middle, and late. The 1.2-kb middle transcript is initiated at Pm and encodes the C protein, the activator of late transcription. A plasmid containing a Pm-lacZ operon fusion was constructed. beta-Galactosidase expression from the plasmid increased 23-fold after Mu prophage induction. Infection o...