TY - JOUR
T1 - A continuous, fluorescence-based assay of μ-opioid receptor activation in AtT-20 cells
AU - Knapman, Alisa
AU - Santiago, Marina
AU - Du, Yan Ping
AU - Bennallack, Philip R.
AU - Christie, MacDonald J.
AU - Connor, Mark
PY - 2013/3
Y1 - 2013/3
N2 - Opioids are widely prescribed analgesics, but their use is limited due to development of tolerance and addiction, as well as high variability in individual response. The development of improved opioid analgesics requires high-throughput functional assays to assess large numbers of potential opioid ligands. In this study, we assessed the ability of a proprietary "no-wash" fluorescent membrane potential dye to act as a reporter of μ-opioid receptor (MOR) activation and desensitization via activation of G-protein-coupled inwardly rectifying potassium channels. AtT-20 cells stably expressing mouse MOR were assayed in 96-well plates using the Molecular Devices FLIPR membrane potential dye. Dye emission intensity decreased upon membrane hyperpolarization. Fluorescence decreased in a concentration-dependent manner upon application of a range of opioid ligands to the cells, with high-efficacy agonists producing a decrease of 35% to 40% in total fluorescence. The maximum effect of morphine faded in the continued presence of agonist, reflecting receptor desensitization. The effects of opioids were prevented by prior treatment with pertussis toxin and blocked by naloxone. We have demonstrated this assay to be an effective method for assessing ligand signaling at MOR, which may potentially be scaled up as an additional high-throughput screening technique for characterizing novel opioid ligands.
AB - Opioids are widely prescribed analgesics, but their use is limited due to development of tolerance and addiction, as well as high variability in individual response. The development of improved opioid analgesics requires high-throughput functional assays to assess large numbers of potential opioid ligands. In this study, we assessed the ability of a proprietary "no-wash" fluorescent membrane potential dye to act as a reporter of μ-opioid receptor (MOR) activation and desensitization via activation of G-protein-coupled inwardly rectifying potassium channels. AtT-20 cells stably expressing mouse MOR were assayed in 96-well plates using the Molecular Devices FLIPR membrane potential dye. Dye emission intensity decreased upon membrane hyperpolarization. Fluorescence decreased in a concentration-dependent manner upon application of a range of opioid ligands to the cells, with high-efficacy agonists producing a decrease of 35% to 40% in total fluorescence. The maximum effect of morphine faded in the continued presence of agonist, reflecting receptor desensitization. The effects of opioids were prevented by prior treatment with pertussis toxin and blocked by naloxone. We have demonstrated this assay to be an effective method for assessing ligand signaling at MOR, which may potentially be scaled up as an additional high-throughput screening technique for characterizing novel opioid ligands.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84873629222&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1011979
U2 - 10.1177/1087057112461376
DO - 10.1177/1087057112461376
M3 - Article
C2 - 23015017
AN - SCOPUS:84873629222
SN - 1087-0571
VL - 18
SP - 269
EP - 276
JO - Journal of Biomolecular Screening
JF - Journal of Biomolecular Screening
IS - 3
ER -