title: Impact of chronic morphine on delta opioid receptor-expressing neurons in the mouse hippocampus.
abstract: Delta opioid (DOP) receptors participate to the control of chronic pain and emotional responses. Recent data also identified their implication in spatial memory and drug-context associations pointing to a critical role of hippocampal delta receptors. To better appreciate the impact of repeated drug exposure on their modulatory activity, we used fluorescent knock-in mice that express a functional delta receptor fused at its carboxy-terminus with the green fluorescent protein in place of the native receptor. We then tested the impact of chronic morphine treatment on the density and distribution of delta receptor-expressing cells in the hippocampus. A decrease in delta receptor-positive cell density was observed in the CA1, CA3 and dentate gyrus without alteration of the distribution across the different GABAergic populations that mainly express delta receptors. This effect partly persisted after four weeks of morphine abstinence. In addition, we observed increased DOP receptor expression at the cell surface compared to saline-treated animals. In the hippocampus, chronic morphine administration thus induces DOP receptor cellular redistribution and durably decreases delta receptor-expressing cell density. Such modifications are likely to alter hippocampal physiology, and to contribute to long-term cognitive deficits.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), CNRS/INSERM/UdS, 1 Rue Laurent Fries, F-67404 Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Erbs
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), CNRS/INSERM/UdS, 1 Rue Laurent Fries, F-67404 Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Faget
authors.affiliation: Institut des Neurosciences Cellulaires et Intégratives, UPR 3212, 5 Rue Blaise Pascal, F-67084 Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Ceredig
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), CNRS/INSERM/UdS, 1 Rue Laurent Fries, F-67404 Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matifas
authors.affiliation: Imaging Center IGBMC, CNRS/INSERM/UdS, 1 Rue Laurent Fries, F-67404 Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France.
authors.forename: J-L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Vonesch
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), CNRS/INSERM/UdS, 1 Rue Laurent Fries, F-67404 Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France; Douglas Hospital Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, 6875, Boulevard LaSalle, Montreal (Quebec) H4H 1R3, Canada.
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Kieffer
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), CNRS/INSERM/UdS, 1 Rue Laurent Fries, F-67404 Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France; Institut des Neurosciences Cellulaires et Intégratives, UPR 3212, 5 Rue Blaise Pascal, F-67084 Strasbourg, France. Electronic address: d.massotte@unistra.fr.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Massotte
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D055879:Gene Knock-In Techniques; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D057507:Mice, 129 Strain; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009020:Morphine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009021:Morphine Dependence / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009294:Narcotics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D017465:Receptors, Opioid, delta / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009294:Narcotics; D017465:Receptors, Opioid, delta; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D009020:Morphine
keywords: G protein-coupled receptor; abstinence; chronic morphine; delta opioid receptor; hippocampus