Morphine drives internal ribosome entry site-mediated hnRNP K translation in neurons through opioid receptor-dependent signaling.

ABSTRACT: Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNP K) binds to the promoter region of mu-opioid receptor (MOR) to regulate its transcriptional activity. How hnRNP K contributes to the analgesic effects of morphine, however, is largely unknown. We provide evidence that morphine increases hnRNP K protein expression via MOR activation in rat primary cortical neurons and HEK-293 cells expressing MORs, without increasing mRNA levels. Using the bicistronic reporter assay, we examined whether morphine-mediated accumulation of hnRNP K resulted from translational control. We identified potential internal ribosome entry site elements located in the 5' untranslated regions of hnRNP K transcripts that were regulated by morphine. This finding suggests that internal translation contributes to the morphine

SUBMITTER: Lee PT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4245930 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature