Abstract
T cell receptor (TCR/CD3) induced fluctuations in intracellular free ionizied calcium, [Ca2+]i, was analysed in the human T leukemia cell clone, Jurkat, cultured in the presence of the opioid methionine enkephalinamide (Met-Enk) in titrated concentrations (10[-7] to 10[-15] M) or saline (PBS). In the majority of individual experiments, the activation-induced fluctuations in [Ca2+]i were similar in cells cultured in the presence of Met-Enk and PBS, respectively. However, when all the experimental data from 101 separate TCR/CD3-activation experiments with Met-Enk were compared with the 67 separate control experiments, we found that a fraction (20-40%) of the individual sets of Met-Enk experiments responded significantly different when compared to PBS-controls. In this fraction of experiments the increase in [Ca2+]i after ligation of the TCR/CD3 complex was extremely slow compared to controls. Moreover, the levels of [Ca2+]i in this particular fraction were lower than control levels prior to ligation of the TCR/CD3 complex. The data support the idea that signal transduction in T cells can be influenced by endogenous opioid. The data therefore give credit to the evolving hypothesis of a functional relationship between the neuroendocrine system and the immune system.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Life Sciences |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue number | 14 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1251-9 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| ISSN | 0024-3205 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 1998 |
Keywords
- Calcium
- Enkephalin, Methionine
- Humans
- Jurkat Cells
- Macromolecular Substances
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell
- Receptors, Opioid, delta
- Signal Transduction
- Statistics as Topic
- T-Lymphocytes