We studied adaptations to acute precipitated opioid withdrawal of spinal μ-opioid receptor (MOR)-coupled regulation of the release of endomorphin 2 (EM2). The release of this highly MOR-selective endogenous opioid from opioid-naive spinal tissue of male rats is subjected to MOR-coupled positive as well as negative modulation via cholera toxin-sensitive G(s) and pertussis toxin-sensitive G(i)/G(...

We introduce the Execution Migration Machine (EM2), a novel, scalable shared-memory architecture for large-scale multicores constrained by off-chip memory bandwidth. EM2 reduces cache miss rates, and consequently off-chip memory usage, by permitting only one copy of data to be stored anywhere in the system: when a thread wishes to access an address not locally cached on the core it is executing...

We found in the present study that treatment with ox-LDL decreased the cell viability and the content of nitric oxide (NO) and the activity of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) as well as eNOS mRNA expression, while increasing the mRNA expression and content of endothelin-1 (ET-1) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). However, endomorphins EM1/EM2 increased the cell viability and the co...

Orphanin FQ (OFQ) and endomorphins (EM) are newly characterized members of opioid peptide family. OFQ has been shown to antagonize morphine analgesia at supraspinal level, whereas endomorphins are highly selective endogenous ligands for mu receptor, showing analgesic effect at both spinal and supraspinal level. OFQ and EM-2 (EM2) immunoreactivity (ir) was measured by radioimmunoassay in nocicep...

This work was designed to examine whether brain endomorphins (EM1 and EM2), the endogenous m-opioid ligands, are involved in electroacupuncture (EA)-induced analgesia in the mice. C57BL/6J mice were given EA for 30 min and the effect of EA-induced analgesia was assessed by radiant heat tail ̄ick latency (TFL). Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of m-opioid receptor antagonist D-Phe-Cys-...

Opiate analgesia in the spinal cord is impaired in diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP), but until now the reason is unknown. We hypothesized that it resulted from a decreased inhibition of substance P (SP) signaling within the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. To investigate this possibility, we evaluated the effects of endomorphin-2 (EM2), an endogenous ligand of the μ-opioid receptor (MOR), on SP r...

Functional selectivity at the µ opioid receptor (µR), a prototypical G-protein-coupled receptor that is a physiologically relevant target for endogenous opioid neurotransmitters and analgesics, has been a major focus for drug discovery in the recent past. Functional selectivity is a cumulative effect of the magnitudes of individual signaling pathways, e.g., the Gαi-mediated and the arrestin-med...

Since the discovery of the endomorphins (EM), the postulated endogenous peptide agonists of the mu-opioid receptors, several analogues have been synthesized to improve their binding and pharmacological profiles. We have shown previously that a new analogue, cis-1S,2R-aminocyclohexanecarboxylic acid(2)-endomorphin-2 (ACHC-EM2), had elevated mu-receptor affinity, selectivity, and proteolytic stab...

The metacestode of Echinococcus multilocularis is surrounded by a carbohydrate-rich laminated layer, which plays a key role in the establishment of the infection in the mammalian host. A major component of the laminated layer is an antigen referred to as Em2(G11). This highly species-specific antigen has been used for serodiagnoses of alveolar echinococcosis and is suggested to contain carbohyd...

BACKGROUND To assess the clinical significance and prognostic impact of extranodal metastasis (EM) in gastric carcinoma and establish an optimal classification in the staging system. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS A total of 1343 patients with gastric carcinoma who underwent surgical resection were recruited to determine the frequency and prognostic significance of EMs. EMs were divided into ...