Functional expression, activation and desensitization of opioid receptor-like receptor ORL1 in neuroblastoma x glioma NG108-15 hybrid cells.

Neuroblastoma x glioma NG108-15 hybrid cells have been examined for the expression of opioid receptor-like receptor (ORL1). [3H]Nociceptin/orphanin FQ (OFQ) bound to the cell membrane specifically (Kd = 3.6 +/- 0.6 nM) and inhibited forskolin-stimulated cAMP accumulation (EC50 = 0.72 +/- 0.3 nM). The responsiveness of NG108-15 cells to nociceptin/OFQ was blocked by pertussis toxin but not by naltrindole. The inhibitory activity of nociceptin/OFQ was significantly reduced after a prechallenge with the same peptide but was not influenced by DPDPE pretreatment, indicating acute and homologous desensitization of ORL1 receptors. Naltrindole caused the overshoot of cAMP in DPDPE-pretreated cells but not in nociceptin/OFQ-pretreated cells. The results indicate that ORL1 is functionally expressed and does not cross-interact with specific ligands of the delta opioid receptor in NG108-15 cells.