The study on functions of opioid receptors expressed in T lymphocytes

据报道，毒品的副作用之一是免疫抑制，其机制可能涉及免疫细胞上表达的阿片受体，如T淋巴细胞。我们以前从人T细胞cDNA文库中克隆了编码kappa阿片受体氨基端截短的剪接变异体的cDNA(称为KOR4)。KOR4基因导入HEK293细胞的稳定转化子正在构建中，并将对KOR4的特性进行研究。此外，我们还证明，在人T淋巴细胞和Jurkat细胞中，通过T细胞受体刺激的信号通路会被吗啡预处理所改变。这些结果表明，毒品可以改变T细胞功能，调节免疫系统。

Narcotics have been reported to develop immunosuppression as one of their side effects, the mechanism of which might be involved in opioid receptors expressed on immune cells, such as T lymphocytes.We have cloned before, from human T cell cDNA library, the cDNA encoding a splice variant of kappa opioid receptor, truncated at its amino terminus (termed as KOR4). The stable transformants of HEK293 cells heterologously transfected with KOR4 cDNA are now being constructed and characterization of KOR4 will be investigated. Moreover, we have demonstrated that, in human T lymphocytes and Jurkat cells, signaling pathways by T cell receptor stimulation would be alterd by morphine pretreatment. These results suggest that narcotics could change T cell functions and modulate immune systems.