|
||
Brief Definitive Reports |
,||,¶
,||,¶
,||,¶



Department of Microbiology and Immunology,
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, || Department of Medicine, and ¶ Walther Oncology Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202; and the ** Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267
| Abstract |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Opioids exert their physiological effect by interacting with membrane-bound opioid receptors. Extensive studies in the past have established that there are three major types of opioid receptors, µ,
The major clinical use of morphine and other opioids is for pain relief. Analgesic effects of opioids can be mediated by all three types of opioid receptors (2). A recent study using mice with a disrupted µ opioid receptor gene demonstrated the central role of this receptor in opioid-mediated pain relief (5). In addition to nociception, opioid receptor involvement has also been implicated in other physiological functions such as motor activity, gastrointestinal motility, and respiratory activity (6). To explore the role that the µ opioid receptor may play in diverse biological processes, we examined mice deficient in the µ opioid receptor gene. Here we report the findings of these studies.
Hematopoiesis Assays.
Measurements of Motor Activity and Sexual Function.
Mating behavior was tested essentially as described (13). Sperm from the right-side epididymis was flushed out in 5 ml of phosphate-buffered saline, and sperm number counted both by Coulter cell counter and by warmed Neubauer counting chamber (14). Sperm motility was the percentage of sperm showing forward progressing, linear motion.
Statistics.
, and
, with somewhat overlapping, yet distinct pharmacology (1, 2). In recent years, molecular cloning has led to the identification of the genes for these opioid receptors (3), and subsequent studies using these clones have confirmed the pharmacological classification (3, 4). The µ opioid receptor is the major cellular target for most medically relevant opioid narcotics, including naturally occurring drugs such as morphine and codeine as well as synthetic compounds such as fentanyl and methadone. In addition to these µ-selective alkaloids, the µ opioid receptor is also activated by peptide ligands such as endorphins (endogenous) and [D-Ala2,N-Me-Phe4,Glyol5]-enkephalin (synthetic).
![]()
Materials and Methods
Top
Abstract
Materials and Methods
Results and Discussion
References
Mice.
The µ opioid receptor gene Oprm was disrupted in embryonic stem (ES) cells by replacing the coding exon 1 with a PGK-neo selection marker using the method of gene targeting as described (7, 8). Targeted ES cells were microinjected into C57/ BL6 mouse blastocysts, and the resultant chimeric mice were mated to wild-type female mice of the Swiss black strain to obtain germline transmission of the targeted gene. Genomic Southern blotting and nested PCR were used to confirm the presence of the disrupted gene in the progeny mice. Mice were housed at 72–74°F and 60% humidity with 12-h light/dark lighting cycle. Water and food were available ad libitum.
Unseparated marrow and spleen cells were plated respectively at 5 x 104 and 5 x 105 per ml in 1.0% methylcellulose culture medium with 30% vol/vol fetal bovine serum (Hyclone Labs, Inc., Logan, UT) and 1 U/ml recombinant human erythropoietin (Amgen Biologicals, Thousand Oaks, CA), 50 ng/ml recombinant murine steel factor (Immunex Corp., Seattle, WA), 5% vol/vol pokeweed mitogen mouse spleen cell– conditioned medium, and 0.1 mM hemin (Kodak Co., Rochester, NY). Colonies deriving from hematopoietic progenitors were scored after 7 d of incubation in a humidified environment at 5% CO2 and lowered (5%) O2 as described (9–11). Absolute numbers of progenitors per organ were calculated based on the number of viable, unseparated nucleated cells per femur or spleen, and the number of colonies scored per number of cells plated. The percentage of progenitors in S-phase was estimated by the high specific activity tritiated thymidine kill technique (9–11).
Locomotor activity measurements were recorded in a quiet room under dim light by video cameras, and the tapes were analyzed off-line. Individual mice placed in a round plastic chamber were habituated for 15 min before the activity was recorded. Horizontal activity was scored as breaking either one of the two center lines (perpendicular to each other). Vertical activity was scored as the animal raised its head and/or stood up along the side wall. Morphine (in 0.9% saline) was injected intraperitoneally at a 2.3 mg/kg, the ED50 dosage of analgesia in mice (12). U62066 (dissolved in ethanol and diluted in saline) was injected intraperitoneally at a dose of 3 pmol/kg.
Data of heterozygotes and homozygotes were analyzed for statistically significant differences from that of wild-type mice by Student's t test. An asterisk (*) indicates significant difference (P <0.05) from the wild type. All data are shown as mean ± SEM.
![]()
Results and Discussion
Top
Abstract
Materials and Methods
Results and Discussion
References
Normal Growth but Altered Motor Activity in µ Opioid Receptor–deficient Mice.
The µ opioid receptor gene Oprm, a single copy gene on mouse chromosome 10 (15), was disrupted in ES cells by gene targeting (16, 17) for generation of µ opioid receptor–deficient mice. Analysis of genomic DNA from progeny mice confirmed the presence of the disrupted gene (data not shown). Deficiency in the µ opioid receptor does not appear to cause major changes in mouse development, as mice of all three genotypes grew with comparable body weight (Fig. 1), without noticeable changes in neuroanatomy or histology (data not shown). When tested for opioid-mediated antinociception using the tail flick latency assay, we observed similar results to those reported by Matthes et al. (5), i.e., a lack of morphineinduced increase of tail flick latency in mice homozygous for the deficient receptor gene (Oprm–/–; data not shown).
|
|
When the vertical activity was examined, there was no significant difference among three genotypes of mice (Fig. 2 C). Upon morphine injection, the vertical activity in wildtype mice was greatly reduced (Fig. 2 D), in agreement with previous studies (18). In homozygous mice, morphine did not change the level of vertical activity during the test period (Fig. 2 D), indicating a lack of µ opioid receptor for mediating the morphine effect. Just as for horizontal activity, vertical activity in heterozygous mice was not affected by morphine (Fig. 2 D), suggesting that one normal allele of the µ opioid receptor gene is not sufficient to overcome the deficit of the other mutated allele in this respect.
These results are consistent with previous observations that in normal (wild-type) mice, morphine increases horizontal locomotor activity and reduces vertical locomotor activity (18). Our data demonstrate that the µ opioid receptor plays a central role in morphine modulation of locomotor activity, since in both homozygous and heterozygous mice, the morphine effects were largely abolished.
Hematopoiesis.
Animal studies support the role of opioids in modulating the host defense system (19, 20). For example, both β-endorphin and enkephalins, endogenous opioids that have high affinity for µ and
opioid receptors, affect mature cells of the hematopoietic system, i.e., monocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils (19). However, no studies have thus far linked the µ opioid receptor system to blood cell production, especially for progenitor cells of myeloid origin that give rise to granulocytes, monocytes/macrophages, erythrocytes, and platelets. Hematopoiesis, the production of blood cells, is regulated by cytokines, which include members of the chemokine family (21–24). Chemokine receptors, for example the interleukin-8 receptor, are members of the G protein-coupled receptor family like the µ opioid receptor, and the µ opioid receptor displays moderate levels of sequence homology to both the interleukin-8 receptor and C-C chemokine receptors (25). Given these structural parallels and implied functional interactions, it was of interest to examine the µ opioid receptor–deficient mice for potential changes in hematopoietic processes.
To explore a potential role of µ opioid receptors in hematopoiesis, myeloid blood cell production in mice was examined using bone marrow, spleen, and blood. We found that the absolute numbers of femoral bone marrow granulocytemacrophage (CFU-GM), erythoid (BFU-E), and multipotential (CFU-GEMM) progenitor cells in bone marrow were significantly higher in homozygotes (Oprm–/–) compared to wild-type mice (Table 1), whereas there were no apparent differences in nucleated cellularity in the bone marrow and spleen (Table 1) or in the leukocytes, erythrocytes, and platelet counts in the blood (data not shown). Also, although myeloid progenitors in the bone marrow and spleen were in a slowly cycling state in wild-type mice, these progenitors were in rapid cell cycle in homozygous mice as determined by the percentage of progenitors in S-phase (Table 1). The cycling status of myeloid progenitors in bone marrow and spleen of heterozygous mice (Oprm+/–) was intermediate between that of wild type (Oprm+/+) and homozygotes (Oprm–/–). Also, the absolute numbers of CFU-GM, BFU-E, and CFU-GEMM in spleen were increased in homozygotes compared to wild-type mice, although these differences were not significant.
|
Sexual Function.
During breeding, we noticed that it took homozygous male mice (Oprm–/–) a significantly longer time to impregnate a female than wild-type male mice (Table 2), and the offspring litter size by homozygous males was smaller than that by wild type (Table 2). Two factors could contribute to such a change: a reduction in mating activity and a change in reproductive physiology. To examine whether the µ opioid receptor plays a role in the sexual behavior in mice, we measured the mating activity in male mice. When an estrous wild-type female mouse was placed in a cage with a male mouse, the wild-type male would start to investigate the female and, within a few min, initiate sexual activity by mounting the female mouse. The homozygous males (Oprm–/–), on the other hand, showed a significantly lengthened period before they initiated sexual activity with the female mouse (Table 2). Also, whereas the majority of the mounting attempts by a wild type male were appropriate (mounting from the rear of the female), the proportion of appropriate mounting by a homozygous male was much reduced (Table 2). In addition, the number of intromissions during the test session was significantly reduced in homozygous males as compared with the wild type. These results indicate that sexual activity is reduced in the homozygous male mice compared with that in the wild type. The reduction of sexual activity in homozygous mice does not appear to be caused by reduced locomotor activity, because during mating tests there was no significant difference among the wild-type, heterozygous, and homozygous male mice in the total contact time, determined as the accumulative time when the male was investigating the female mouse, including mounting and sniffing of body and genital areas (Table 2).
|
The male reproductive system in homozygous male mice appears to be functional, as the prostate and seminal vesicle weights were of similar values among different genotypes (Table 2). However, sperm motility and sperm counts in homozygous mice were significantly reduced compared to those in wild-type mice (Table 2). These data suggest that the development of sperm may be affected by disruption of the µ opioid receptor gene even though the gross anatomy of the male reproductive system in homozygous male mice is not. Taken together, these results indicate that the µ opioid receptor may play an important role in the sexual behavior and reproductive physiology in mice. Further studies are needed to address whether the µ opioid receptor acts directly on the reproductive organs or functions by modulating a central mechanism.
| Acknowledgments |
|---|
This work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants DA09116 and DA09444 to L. Yu; HL56416, HL54037, and a project in P01 HL53586 to H.E. Broxmeyer; and DK38185 to J.A. Tischfield. L. Yu is the recipient of a Research Career Development Award (NS01557) from the NIH. S. Aronica was supported by the NIH training program T32DK07519 to H.E. Broxmeyer. S.J. Engle and A. Mestek were supported by the NIH training grant T32HD07373 to the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics.
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
1 Goldstein A. Binding selectivity profiles for ligands of multiple receptor types: focus on opioid receptors, Trends Pharmacol Sci, 1987, 8, 456–459.
2 Pasternak GW. Pharmacological mechanisms of opioid analgesics, Clin Neuropharmacol, 1993, 16, 1–18.[Medline]
3 Kieffer BL. Recent advances in molecular recognition and signal transduction of active peptides: receptors for opioid peptides, Cell Mol Neurobiol, 1995, 15, 615–635.[Medline]
4 Raynor K, Kong H, Yasuda K, Chen Y, Yu L, Bell GI & Reisine T. Pharmacological characterization of the cloned
-,
-, and µ-opioid receptors, Mol Pharmacol, 1994, 45, 330–334.[Abstract]
5 Matthes HWD, Maldonado R, Simonin F, Valverde O, Slowe S, Kitchen I, Befort K, Dierich A, Le Meur M, Dolle P et al.. Loss of morphine-induced analgesia, reward effect and withdrawal symptoms in mice lacking the µ-opioidreceptor gene, Nature (Lond), 1996, 383, 819–823.[Medline]
6 The Opiate Receptors. 1988. G.W. Pasternak, editor. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. 520 pp.
7 Engle SJ, Stockelman MG, Chen J, Boivin G, Yum M-N, Davies PM, Ying MY, Sahota A, Simmonds HA, Stambrook PJ & Tischfield JA. Adenine phosphoribosyltransferase deficient mice develop 2,8-dihydroxyadenine nephrolithiasis, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 1996, 93, 5307–5312.
8 Pollock JD, Williams DA, Gifford MA, Li LL, Du X, Fisherman J, Orkin SH, Doerschuk CM & Dinauer MC. Mouse model of X-linked chronic granulomatous disease, an inherited defect in phagocyte superoxide production, Nat Genet, 1995, 9, 202–209.[Medline]
9 Broxmeyer HE, Williams DE, Hangoc G, Cooper S, Gillis S, Shadduck RK & Bicknell DC. Synergistic myelopoietic actions in vivo after administration to mice of combinations of purified natural murine colony-stimulating factor 1, recombinant murine interleukin 3, and recombinant murine granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 1987, 84, 3871–3875.
10 Cooper, S., C. Mantel, and H.E. Broxmeyer. 1994. Myelosuppressive effects in vivo with very low dosages of monomeric recombinant murine macrophage inflammatory protein-1
. Exp. Hematol. (Charlottesv.). 22:186–193.
11 Cooper, S., and H.E. Broxmeyer. 1997. Measurement of interleukin-3 and other hematopoietic growth factors, such as GM-CSF, G-CSF, M-CSF, erythropoietin and the potent co-stimulating cytokines steel factor and Flt-3 ligand. In Current Protocols in Immunology. John Wiley & Sons, New York. In press.
12 Drug Dosage in Laboratory Animals: A Handbook. R.E. Borchard, C.D. Barnes, and L.G. Eltherington, editors. 1990. Telford Press, Inc., Caldwell, NJ. 692 pp.
13 Baum MJ, Brown JJG, Kica E, Rubin BS, Johnson RS & Papaioannou V E. Effect of a null mutation of the c-fos proto-oncogene on sexual behavior of male mice, Biol Reprod, 1994, 50, 1040–1048.[Abstract]
14 Vawda AI & Davies AG. Effects of cisplatin on the mouse testis, Acta Endocrinol, 1986, 112, 436–441.
15 Kozak CA, Filie J, Adamson MC, Chen Y & Yu L. Murine chromosomal location of the µ and
opioid receptor genes, Genomics, 1994, 21, 659–661.[Medline]
16 Capecchi MR. Altering the genome by homologous recombination, Science (Wash DC), 1989, 244, 1288–1292.
17 Doetschman, T. 1994. Gene transfer in embryonic stem cells. In Transgenic Animal Technology: A Laboratory Handbook. O. Smithies, editor. Academic Press, San Diego, CA. 115–146.
18 Michael-Titus A, Dourmap N & Costentin J. Mu and delta opioid receptors control differently the horizontal and vertical components of locomotor activity in mice, Neuropeptides, 1989, 13, 235–242.[Medline]
19 Bryant, H.U., and J.W. Holaday. 1993. Opioids in immunologic processes. In Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology: Opioids II. A. Herz, editor. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. 361–392.
20 Stefano GB, Scharrer B, Smith EM, Hughes TKJ, Magazine HI, Bilfinger TV, Hartman AR, Fricchione GL, Liu Y & Makman MH. Opioid and opiate immunoregulatory processes, Crit Rev Immunol, 1996, 16, 109–144.[Medline]
21 Broxmeyer, H.E. 1992. Update: biomolecule–cell interactions and the regulation of myelopoiesis. In Concise Reviews in Clinical and Experimental Hematology. M.J.J. Murphy, editor. Alpha Medical Press, Dayton, OH. 119–149.
22 Broxmeyer, H.E. 1993. Role of cytokines in hematopoiesis. In Clinical Aspects of Cytokines: Role in Pathogenesis, Diagnosis and Therapy. J.J. Oppenheim, J.L. Rossio, and A.J.H. Gearing, editors. Oxford University Press, New York. 201–206.
23 Broxmeyer HE. Is interleukin 17, an inducible cytokine that stimulates production of other cytokines, merely a redundant player in a sea of other biomolecules? , J Exp Med, 1996, 183, 2411–2415.
24 Broxmeyer, H.E. 1996. Myelosuppressive cytokines and peptides. In Blood Cell Biochemistry: Hematopoietic Growth Factors and Their Receptors. A.D. Whetton and J. Gordon, editors. Plenum, London. 121–150.
25 Chen Y, Mestek A, Liu J, Hurley JA & Yu L. Molecular cloning and functional expression of a µ-opioid receptor from rat brain, Mol Pharmacol, 1993, 44, 8–12.[Abstract]
This article has been cited by other articles:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|