title: Alteration of glutamyltranspeptidase binding proteins in postmortem brains of heroin addicts.
abstract: Glutamyltranspeptidase binding (G) proteins play an important role in intracellular signal transduction downstream from many receptors, including opioid receptors. Moreover, it was recently reported that the beta-subunits of G proteins, in addition to the alpha-subunits, regulate effector pathways. In this study, membrane G protein immunoreactivity was estimated by Western blotting with polyclonal antibodies (RM/1, AS/7, GC/2, QL, and SW/1) against specific G proteins (G alpha S, G alpha i-1,2, G alpha o, G alpha q, and G beta, respectively) in postmortem temporal cortex obtained from 6 heroin addicts and 6 control subjects without a history of drug abuse. Immunoreactivities of the G beta-subunit increased significantly (p < 0.05) in heroin addicts, compared with controls, and that of G alpha i-1,2 tended to increase in heroin addicts. Present findings suggest that the alterations in G protein-mediated signal transduction may be involved in the mechanism of opiate addiction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry, School of Medicine, Sapporo Medical University, Japan.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Frölich
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ozawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shichinohe
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takahata
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Riederer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins