The Journal of Neuroscience, March 1, 2003, 23(5):1847
Peptidases Prevent µ-Opioid Receptor Internalization in Dorsal
Horn Neurons by Endogenously Released Opioids
Bingbing
Song and
Juan
Carlos G.
Marvizón
Center for Neurovisceral Sciences and Women's Health, Division of
Digestive Diseases, Department of Medicine, Geffen School of Medicine
at University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
90095
To evaluate the effect of peptidases on µ-opioid receptor (MOR)
activation by endogenous opioids, we measured MOR-1 internalization in
rat spinal cord slices. A mixture of inhibitors of aminopeptidases (amastatin), dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase (captopril), and neutral endopeptidase (phosphoramidon) dramatically increased the potencies of
Leu-enkephalin and dynorphin A to produce MOR-1 internalization, and
also enhanced the effects of Met-enkephalin and
-neoendorphin, but
not endomorphins or
-endorphin. The omission of any one inhibitor abolished Leu-enkephalin-induced internalization, indicating that all
three peptidases degraded enkephalins. Amastatin preserved dynorphin
A-induced internalization, and phosphoramidon, but not captopril,
increased this effect, indicating that the effect of dynorphin A was
prevented by aminopeptidases and neutral endopeptidase. Veratridine (30 µM) or 50 mM KCl produced MOR-1
internalization in the presence of peptidase inhibitors, but little or
no internalization in their absence. These effects were attributed to
opioid release, because they were abolished by the selective MOR
antagonist CTAP (D-Phe-Cys-Tyr-D-Trp-Arg-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH2)
and were Ca2+ dependent. The effect of veratridine
was protected by phosphoramidon plus amastatin or captopril, but not by
amastatin plus captopril or by phosphoramidon alone, indicating that
released opioids are primarily cleaved by neutral endopeptidase, with a
lesser involvement of aminopeptidases and dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase.
Therefore, because the potencies of endomorphin-1 and endomorphin-2 to
elicit internalization were unaffected by peptidase inhibitors, the
opioids released by veratridine were not endomorphins. Confocal
microscopy revealed that MOR-1-expressing neurons were in close
proximity to terminals containing opioids with enkephalin-like
sequences. These findings indicate that peptidases prevent the
activation of extrasynaptic MOR-1 in dorsal horn neurons.
Key words:
amastatin; aminopeptidase; captopril; dipeptidyl
carboxypeptidase; dynorphin; endocytosis; endomorphin; endorphin; enkephalin; internalization; µ-opioid receptor; neutral
endopeptidase; opioid; peptidase; phosphoramidon; rat; release; spinal
cord
Copyright © 2003 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/03/2351847-12$05.00/0