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Basukala B, Rossi S, Bendiks S, Gnatienko N, Patts G, Krupitsky E, Lioznov D, So-Armah K, Sagar M, Cheng C, Henderson AJ. Virally Suppressed People Living with HIV Who Use Opioids Have Diminished Latency Reversal. Viruses 2023; 15:415. [PMID: 36851631 PMCID: PMC9961149 DOI: 10.3390/v15020415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/28/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Of the 12 million people who inject drugs worldwide, 13% live with HIV. Whether opioid use impacts HIV pathogenesis and latency is an outstanding question. To gain insight into whether opioid use influences the proviral landscape and latent HIV reservoir, we performed intact proviral DNA assays (IPDA) on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from antiretroviral therapy (ART)-suppressed people living with HIV (PWH) with or without current opioid use. No differences were observed between PWH with and without opioid use in the frequency of HIV intact and defective proviral genomes. To evaluate the latent reservoir, we activated PBMCs from ART-suppressed PWH with or without opioid use and assessed the induction of HIV RNA. PWH using opioids had diminished responses to ex vivo HIV reactivation, suggesting a smaller reversible reservoir of HIV-1 latently infected cells. However, in vitro studies using primary CD4+ T cells treated with morphine showed no effect of opioids on HIV-1 infection, replication or latency establishment. The discrepancy in our results from in vitro and clinical samples suggests that while opioids may not directly impact HIV replication, latency and reactivation in CD4+ T cells, opioid use may indirectly shape the HIV reservoir in vivo by modulating general immune functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Binita Basukala
- Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Sarah Rossi
- Clinical Addiction Research and Education (CARE) Unit, Department of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA
| | - Sally Bendiks
- Clinical Addiction Research and Education (CARE) Unit, Department of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA
| | - Natalia Gnatienko
- Clinical Addiction Research and Education (CARE) Unit, Department of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA
| | - Gregory Patts
- Biostatistics and Epidemiology Data Analytics Center, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02118, USA
| | - Evgeny Krupitsky
- Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology of Addictions, Pavlov First St. Petersburg State Medical University, Saint-Petersburg 197022, Russia
- Department of Addictions, Bekhterev National Medical Research Center for Psychiatry and Neurology, Saint-Petersburg 192019, Russia
| | - Dmitry Lioznov
- Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology of Addictions, Pavlov First St. Petersburg State Medical University, Saint-Petersburg 197022, Russia
| | - Kaku So-Armah
- Clinical Addiction Research and Education (CARE) Unit, Department of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA
| | - Manish Sagar
- Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA
- Department of Microbiology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA
| | - Christine Cheng
- Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Andrew J. Henderson
- Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA
- Department of Microbiology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA
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2
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Yue Y, Zou L, Tao J, Yin L, Xie Z, Xia Y, Zhang Z, Wang K, Zhu M. Transcriptomics and metabolomics together reveal the underlying mechanism of heroin hepatotoxicity. Toxicology 2023; 483:153393. [PMID: 36502556 DOI: 10.1016/j.tox.2022.153393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Revised: 12/03/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Researches on heroin are more about addiction and some infectious diseases it causes, but liver fibrosis caused by heroin abuse and the mechanism of heroin hepatotoxicity in addicts are ignored. To explore the mechanism of heroin hepatotoxicity, mice in heroin group were intraperitoneally injected by heroin (10 mg/kg) once a day for 14 consecutive days, while mice in heroin withdraw group underwent another 7 days without heroin administration after the same treatment as heroin group. The levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT)and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in serum, as biochemical indexes, were applied to evaluate liver damage. H & E staining and oil red O staining were used to observe the pathological changes of liver. Transcriptomics and metabolomics were applied to detect genes and metabolites in livers. The results of biochemical analysis and pathological examination showed that heroin induced liver damage and lipid loss in mice, and these mice did not return to normal completely after a short-term withdrawal. A total of 511 differential genes and 78 differential metabolites were identified by transcriptomics and metabolomics. These differential genes and metabolites were significantly enriched in pathways like lipid metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, glutathione metabolism, TCA cycle. And after undergoing 7-day withdrawal of heroin, most of the above differential genes and metabolites did not return to normal. Our study revealed the hepatotoxicity of heroin and that short-term withdrawal of heroin did not fully restore liver function. In addition, transcriptomics and metabolomics revealed that lipid metabolism and arachidonic acid metabolism may be potential therapeutic targets of heroin hepatotoxicity, providing a basis for the treatment of heroin addiction patients in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingbiao Yue
- National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Drug Addiction Medicine, Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650032, Yunnan, China
| | - Lei Zou
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province, Kunming 650032, Yunnan, China
| | - Jie Tao
- Drug Rehabilitation Center of Kunming Public Security Bureau, Kunming 650032, Yunnan, China
| | - Lin Yin
- Drug Rehabilitation Center of Kunming Public Security Bureau, Kunming 650032, Yunnan, China
| | - Zhenrong Xie
- The Medical Biobank, the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650032, Yunnan, China
| | - Yu Xia
- Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Zunyue Zhang
- School of Medicine, Yunnan University, Kunming 650032, Yunnan, China.
| | - Kunhua Wang
- School of Medicine, Yunnan University, Kunming 650032, Yunnan, China.
| | - Mei Zhu
- First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650032, Yunnan, China.
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Abstract
This paper is the forty-second consecutive installment of the annual anthological review of research concerning the endogenous opioid system, summarizing articles published during 2019 that studied the behavioral effects of molecular, pharmacological and genetic manipulation of opioid peptides and receptors as well as effects of opioid/opiate agonists and antagonists. The review is subdivided into the following specific topics: molecular-biochemical effects and neurochemical localization studies of endogenous opioids and their receptors (1), the roles of these opioid peptides and receptors in pain and analgesia in animals (2) and humans (3), opioid-sensitive and opioid-insensitive effects of nonopioid analgesics (4), opioid peptide and receptor involvement in tolerance and dependence (5), stress and social status (6), learning and memory (7), eating and drinking (8), drug abuse and alcohol (9), sexual activity and hormones, pregnancy, development and endocrinology (10), mental illness and mood (11), seizures and neurologic disorders (12), electrical-related activity and neurophysiology (13), general activity and locomotion (14), gastrointestinal, renal and hepatic functions (15), cardiovascular responses (16), respiration and thermoregulation (17), and immunological responses (18).
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J Bodnar
- Department of Psychology and Neuropsychology Doctoral Sub-Program, Queens College, City University of New York, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, NY, 11367, United States.
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4
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Liu H, Xu W, Feng J, Ma H, Zhang J, Xie X, Zhuang D, Shen W, Liu H, Zhou W. Increased Expression of Plasma miRNA-320a and let-7b-5p in Heroin-Dependent Patients and Its Clinical Significance. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:679206. [PMID: 34267687 PMCID: PMC8275879 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.679206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Accepted: 06/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Heroin use disorder is a chronic and relapsing disease that induces persistent changes in the brain. The diagnoses of heroin use disorders are mainly based on subjective reports and no valid biomarkers available. Recent researches have revealed that circulating miRNAs are useful non-invasive biomarkers for diagnosing brain diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. However, studies on circulating miRNAs for the diagnosis of heroin use disorders are rarely reported. In this study, we investigated the differential expression of plasma miRNAs in 57 heroin-dependent patients. Based on literature research and microarray analysis, two candidate miRNAs, miR-320a and let-7b-5p, were selected and analyzed by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. The results showed miR-320a and let-7b were significantly upregulated in plasma of the heroin-dependent patients compared to that in healthy controls. The area under curves (AUCs) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of miR-320a and let-7b-5p were 0.748 and 0.758, respectively. The sensitivities of miR-320a and let-7b-5p were 71.9 and 70.2%, while the specificities of miR-320a and let-7b-5p were 76.1 and 78.3%, respectively. The combination of these two miRNAs predicted heron dependence with an AUC of 0.782 (95% CI 0.687-0.876), with 73.7% sensitivity and 82.6% specificity. Our findings suggest a potential use for circulating miRNAs as biomarkers for the diagnosis of heroin abuse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haixiong Liu
- Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Addiction Research of Zhejiang Province, School of Medicine, Ningbo Institute of Microcirculation and Henbane, Ningbo Kangning Hospital, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Wenjin Xu
- Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, Ningbo Institute of Medical Science, The Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Jiying Feng
- Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, Ningbo Institute of Medical Science, The Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Hong Ma
- Department of Psychiatry, Ningbo Kangning Hospital, Ningbo, China
| | - Jianbin Zhang
- Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, Ningbo Institute of Medical Science, The Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Xiaohu Xie
- Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, Ningbo Institute of Medical Science, The Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Dingding Zhuang
- Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, Ningbo Institute of Medical Science, The Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Wenwen Shen
- Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, Ningbo Institute of Medical Science, The Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Huifen Liu
- Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, Ningbo Institute of Medical Science, The Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Wenhua Zhou
- Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, Ningbo Institute of Medical Science, The Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
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5
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Willner MJ, Xiao Y, Kim HS, Chen X, Xu B, Leong KW. Modeling SARS-CoV-2 infection in individuals with opioid use disorder with brain organoids. J Tissue Eng 2021; 12:2041731420985299. [PMID: 33738089 PMCID: PMC7934045 DOI: 10.1177/2041731420985299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2020] [Accepted: 12/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated a preexisting epidemic: the opioid crisis. Much literature has shown that the circumstances imposed by COVID-19, such as social distancing regulations, medical and financial instability, and increased mental health issues, have been detrimental to those with opioid use disorder (OUD). In addition, unexpected neurological sequelae in COVID-19 patients suggest that COVID-19 compromises neuroimmunity, induces hypoxia, and causes respiratory depression, provoking similar effects as those caused by opioid exposure. Combined conditions of COVID-19 and OUD could lead to exacerbated complications. With limited human in vivo options to study these complications, we suggest that iPSC-derived brain organoid models may serve as a useful platform to investigate the physiological connection between COVID-19 and OUD. This mini-review highlights the advances of brain organoids in other neuropsychiatric and infectious diseases and suggests their potential utility for investigating OUD and COVID-19, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moshe J Willner
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Yang Xiao
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Hye Sung Kim
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Institute of Tissue Regeneration Engineering, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea
- Department of Regenerative Dental Medicine, College of Dentistry, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea
- Cell & Matter Institute, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea
| | - Xuejing Chen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Bin Xu
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Kam W Leong
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
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6
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Chromatin accessibility mapping of the striatum identifies tyrosine kinase FYN as a therapeutic target for heroin use disorder. Nat Commun 2020; 11:4634. [PMID: 32929078 PMCID: PMC7490718 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18114-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2019] [Accepted: 08/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The current opioid epidemic necessitates a better understanding of human addiction neurobiology to develop efficacious treatment approaches. Here, we perform genome-wide assessment of chromatin accessibility of the human striatum in heroin users and matched controls. Our study reveals distinct neuronal and non-neuronal epigenetic signatures, and identifies a locus in the proximity of the gene encoding tyrosine kinase FYN as the most affected region in neurons. FYN expression, kinase activity and the phosphorylation of its target Tau are increased by heroin use in the post-mortem human striatum, as well as in rats trained to self-administer heroin and primary striatal neurons treated with chronic morphine in vitro. Pharmacological or genetic manipulation of FYN activity significantly attenuates heroin self-administration and responding for drug-paired cues in rodents. Our findings suggest that striatal FYN is an important driver of heroin-related neurodegenerative-like pathology and drug-taking behavior, making FYN a promising therapeutic target for heroin use disorder. Epigenetic mechanisms have emerged as contributors to the molecular impairments caused by exposure to environmental factors such as abused substances. Here the authors perform epigenetic profiling of the striatum and identify the tyrosine kinase FYN is an important driver of neurodegenerative-like pathology and drug-taking behaviour.
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7
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Mazahery C, Valadkhan S, Levine AD. Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Receptor Subclass-Specific Immune Regulation of CD8 + T Cells by Opioids. Immunohorizons 2020; 4:420-429. [PMID: 32675085 DOI: 10.4049/immunohorizons.2000019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2020] [Accepted: 06/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Opioid peptides are released at sites of injury, and their cognate G protein-coupled opioid receptors (OR) are expressed on immune cells. Exposure of human circulating CD8+ T cells to selective OR agonists differentially regulates thousands of genes. Gene set enrichment analysis reveals that μ-OR more strongly regulates cellular processes than δ-OR. In TCR naive T cells, triggering μ-OR exhibits stimulatory and inhibitory patterns, yet when administered prior to TCR cross-linking, a μ-OR agonist inhibits activation. μ-OR, but not δ-OR, signaling is linked to upregulation of lipid, cholesterol, and steroid hormone biosynthesis, suggesting lipid regulation is a mechanism for immune suppression. Lipid rafts are cholesterol-rich, liquid-ordered membrane domains that function as a nexus for the initiation of signal transduction from surface receptors, including TCR and μ-OR. We therefore propose that μ-OR-specific inhibition of TCR responses in human CD8+ T cells may be mediated through alterations in lipid metabolism and membrane structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire Mazahery
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106
| | - Saba Valadkhan
- Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106
| | - Alan D Levine
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106; .,Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106.,Department of Pharmacology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106.,Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106.,Department of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106; and.,Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106
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8
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Murphy A, Barbaro J, Martínez-Aguado P, Chilunda V, Jaureguiberry-Bravo M, Berman JW. The Effects of Opioids on HIV Neuropathogenesis. Front Immunol 2019; 10:2445. [PMID: 31681322 PMCID: PMC6813247 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.02445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2019] [Accepted: 10/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
HIV associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) are a group of neurological deficits that affect approximately half of people living with HIV (PLWH) despite effective antiretroviral therapy (ART). There are currently no reliable molecular biomarkers or treatments for HAND. Given the national opioid epidemic, as well as illegal and prescription use of opioid drugs among PLWH, it is critical to characterize the molecular interactions between HIV and opioids in cells of the CNS. It is also important to study the role of opioid substitution therapies in the context of HIV and CNS damage in vitro and in vivo. A major mechanism contributing to HIV neuropathogenesis is chronic, low-level inflammation in the CNS. HIV enters the brain within 4–8 days after peripheral infection and establishes CNS reservoirs, even in the context of ART, that are difficult to identify and eliminate. Infected cells, including monocytes, macrophages, and microglia, produce chemokines, cytokines, neurotoxic mediators, and viral proteins that contribute to chronic inflammation and ongoing neuronal damage. Opioids have been shown to impact these immune cells through a variety of molecular mechanisms, including opioid receptor binding and cross desensitization with chemokine receptors. The effects of opioid use on cognitive outcomes in individuals with HAND in clinical studies is variable, and thus multiple biological mechanisms are likely to contribute to the complex relationship between opioids and HIV in the CNS. In this review, we will examine what is known about both HIV and opioid mediated neuropathogenesis, and discuss key molecular processes that may be impacted by HIV and opioids in the context of neuroinflammation and CNS damage. We will also assess what is known about the effects of ART on these processes, and highlight areas of study that should be addressed in the context of ART.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aniella Murphy
- Laboratory of Dr. Joan W. Berman, Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States
| | - John Barbaro
- Laboratory of Dr. Joan W. Berman, Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States
| | - Pablo Martínez-Aguado
- Laboratory of Dr. Joan W. Berman, Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States
| | - Vanessa Chilunda
- Laboratory of Dr. Joan W. Berman, Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States
| | - Matias Jaureguiberry-Bravo
- Laboratory of Dr. Joan W. Berman, Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States
| | - Joan W Berman
- Laboratory of Dr. Joan W. Berman, Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States.,Laboratory of Dr. Joan W. Berman, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States
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Pei F, Li H, Liu B, Bahar I. Quantitative Systems Pharmacological Analysis of Drugs of Abuse Reveals the Pleiotropy of Their Targets and the Effector Role of mTORC1. Front Pharmacol 2019; 10:191. [PMID: 30906261 PMCID: PMC6418047 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2019.00191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2018] [Accepted: 02/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Existing treatments against drug addiction are often ineffective due to the complexity of the networks of protein-drug and protein-protein interactions (PPIs) that mediate the development of drug addiction and related neurobiological disorders. There is an urgent need for understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie drug addiction toward designing novel preventive or therapeutic strategies. The rapidly accumulating data on addictive drugs and their targets as well as advances in machine learning methods and computing technology now present an opportunity to systematically mine existing data and draw inferences on potential new strategies. To this aim, we carried out a comprehensive analysis of cellular pathways implicated in a diverse set of 50 drugs of abuse using quantitative systems pharmacology methods. The analysis of the drug/ligand-target interactions compiled in DrugBank and STITCH databases revealed 142 known and 48 newly predicted targets, which have been further analyzed to identify the KEGG pathways enriched at different stages of drug addiction cycle, as well as those implicated in cell signaling and regulation events associated with drug abuse. Apart from synaptic neurotransmission pathways detected as upstream signaling modules that “sense” the early effects of drugs of abuse, pathways involved in neuroplasticity are distinguished as determinants of neuronal morphological changes. Notably, many signaling pathways converge on important targets such as mTORC1. The latter emerges as a universal effector of the persistent restructuring of neurons in response to continued use of drugs of abuse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fen Pei
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Hongchun Li
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Bing Liu
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Ivet Bahar
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
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