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Alteration of Glutamyltranspeptidase Binding Proteins in Postmortem Brains of Heroin Addicts
Author(s) -
Hashimoto Eri,
Frölich Lutz,
Ozawa Hiroki,
Saito Toshikazu,
Shichinohe Shin,
Takahata Naohiko,
Riederer Peter
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1996.tb01797.x
Subject(s) - receptor , protein subunit , heroin , signal transduction , blot , addiction , g protein , opioid , polyclonal antibodies , heroin dependence , medicine , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , pharmacology , neuroscience , antibody , biochemistry , immunology , drug , gene
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 β‐subunits of G proteins, in addition to the α‐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 (Gαs, Gαi‐1,2, Gαo, Gαq, and Gβ, respectively) in postmortem temporal cortex obtained from 6 heroin addicts and 6 control subjects without a history of drug abuse. Immunoreactivities of the Gβ‐subunit increased significantly ( p < 0.05) in heroin addicts, compared with controls, and that of Gαi‐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.