Kappa-opioid receptor signals through Src and focal adhesion kinase to stimulate c-Jun N-terminal kinases in transfected COS-7 cells and human monocytic THP-1 cells.

Opioid peptides exert diverse physiological functions through their cognate receptors. One subtype of the opioid receptors, kappa-opioid receptor, is endogenously expressed in human monocytic THP-1 cells. Stimulation of the THP-1 cells with a kappa-opioid receptor-selective agonist exerted a Gi-dependent activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). To further investigate the signaling mechanism by which the kappa-opioid receptor regulates JNK activity, heterologous expression assays in COS-7 cells were utilized. Overexpression of Galphat in COS-7 cells clearly suppressed kappa-opioid receptor-stimulated JNK activity, indicating that the pathway is primarily regulated by Gbetagamma. In both THP-1 and transfected COS-7 cells, pretreatment of the selective Src family kinase inhibitor pyrazolopyrimidine PP1 abolished the JNK activation, whereas the epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor AG1478 [N-(3-chlorophenyl)-6,7-dimethoxy-4-quinazolinanine] failed to do that. Furthermore, the JNK activation in response to kappa-opioid receptor was suppressed by an autophosphorylation-resistant mutant of focal adhesion kinase (FAK). Consistently, activated kappa-opioid receptor induced Src stimulation and FAK autophosphorylation and promoted the formation of Src-FAK complex. The participation of small GTPases as well as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor was also implicated because dominant-negative mutants of Rac, Cdc42, and Son-of-sevenless (Sos) attenuated the agonist-induced activation of JNK. These studies demonstrate that the activation of JNK by kappa-opioid receptors is routed via Gbetagamma, Src, FAK, Sos, Rac, and Cdc42.