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. 1990 May 1;171(5):1625–1633. doi: 10.1084/jem.171.5.1625

Neurohormones regulate T cell function

PMCID: PMC2187893  PMID: 2332733

Abstract

In this communication we show that T cell locomotion is affected by direct interaction with neurohormones. Opioid peptides, including beta- END, MET-ENK, LEU-ENK, and related enkephalin analogues enhanced migration of human peripheral blood T lymphocytes. Activity was dependent on the peptide NH2-terminal sequence, stimulated by enkephalin analogues with specificity for classical delta or mu types of opiate receptor, and inhibited by the opiate receptor antagonist naloxone. Our studies suggest that such neuropeptides stimulate T cell chemotaxis by interaction with sites analogues to classical opiate receptors. We propose that the endogenous opioids beta-END, MET-ENK, and LEU-ENK are potent immunomodulating signals that regulate the trafficking of immune response cells.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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