High-Affinity Interaction of (des-Tyrosyl)Dynorphin A(2-17) with

The opioid peptide dynorphin A elicits non-opioid receptor-mediated, neurotoxic response in vivo, which is blocked by pretreatment with MK-801, a noncompetitive N-methyl-D-as-partate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist. In the present study, we examined the possible direct interaction of dynorphin A on the NMDAR. A nonopioid dynorphin A analog, 125I-(des-tyrosyl) dynorphin A(2-17), was used in radioligand binding analysis on rat cortical brain membranes. This radioligand exhibited a sat-urable, specific binding at high affinity with a Kd value of 9.4 6 1.6 nM and maximal binding of 2.4 6 0.6 pmol/mg protein. This binding site was associated with the NMDAR complex because it was modulated by a number of NMDAR ligands. Transient expression of the rat NR1a/NR2A complex in human embryonic kidney 293 cells confirmed a coexpression of 125I-(des-tyrosyl