Journal: Frontiers in Pain Research
Article Title: In vivo and in vitro Characterization of a Partial Mu Opioid Receptor Agonist, NKTR-181, Supports Future Therapeutic Development
doi: 10.3389/fpain.2021.695962
Figure Lengend Snippet: NKTR-181-induced G-protein and β-arrestin recruitment to MOPr. HEK293 cells, transfected with MOPr-venus and either GNAi1-luciferase, luciferase-βarr2, or luciferase-βarr1, were treated with [D-Ala 2 , N-MePhe 4 , Gly-ol]-enkephalin (DAMGO) (0–10 βM), NKTR-181 (0–100 βM), or oxycodone (0–100 βM). (A–C) Dose-response curves showing agonist-activated NetBRET values [E 535 /E 490 minus the background signal observed with luciferase-tagged constructs alone and normalized to baseline bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) in untreated cells] as a percentage of the maximum DAMGO-induced response on the y -axis, and log agonist concentration on the x -axis for βarr2 (A) , βarr1 (B) , and Gαi (C) . Data were fitted with a four-parameter, variable slope model with Hill Slopes constrained to one. (D–F) Time course of βarr2 (D) and βarr1 (E) recruitment at DAMGO (10 μM), NKTR-181 (100 μM), and oxy (100 μM), fitted with a one-phase decay model, and recruitment rate comparison (F) . Bias factors were calculated for Gαi vs. β-arrestin (G) or βarr1 vs. βarr2 (H) . Refer to , , for statistics. Refer to for the same analysis with morphine and fentanyl.
Article Snippet: HEK293 cells, untransfected or transfected with fluorogen-activated peptide- (FAP-) tagged MOPr (Spectragenetics, Pittsburgh, PA, USA) were cultured in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (Gibco-Life Technologies, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS, Gemini Bioproducts, Sacramento, CA, USA), 1% 100X Gibco® GlutaMAXTM supplement (Thermo Fischer, Life Technologies, Waltham, MA, USA), 0.5% 100X antibiotic-antimycotic (Thermo Fischer, Life Technologies, Waltham, MA, USA).
Techniques: Transfection, Luciferase, Construct, Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer, Concentration Assay, Comparison