Changes in Gene Expression in Chronic Opioid Users

Abstract

Opioids are a class of drug derived from the opium poppy that are usually prescribed to relieve pain. However, opioids are highly addictive and addiction and abuse of opioids has become a growing crisis in the United States. Looking at long term changes that occur during opioid addiction may identify targets for therapeutic intervention. When I started this research, I looked to see if addiction led to any changes in gene expression. There were some clues in the literature that genes involved in inflammation may be involved in mice. I would like to examine further whether or not genes involved in the immune system change in expression in opioid addicts. A new technique to examine gene expression changes is called RNA sequencing analysis (RNA-seq), and many researchers conducting RNA sequencing analysis post their data so that other researchers can access and analyze it. I was lucky to find data from a study that conducted RNAseq on brains from human cadavers of opioid and control subjects, as well as a study with RNAseq data from a mouse opioid addiction model. I am currently examining these data using Project Galaxy to see if there are expression changes in genes involved in inflammation and immunity that correlate between human and mouse opioid addicts. Further research is needed to determine whether there are any actual changes in gene expression in chronic opioid users.

Larissa Hamamoto | Biology and Chemistry | Faculty Sponsor Ronald Krieser