Background and Purpose: The concept of opioid ligands biased towards the G protein pathway with minimal recruitment of β-arrestin-2 is a promising approach for the development of novel, efficient, and potentially nonaddictive opioid therapeutics.A recently discovered biased μ-opioid receptor agonist, PZM21, showed analgesic effects with reduced side effects. Here, we aimed to further investigate the behavioural and biochemical properties of PZM21. Experiment Approach:We evaluated antinociceptive effects of systemic and intrathecal PZM21 administration. Its addiction-like properties were determined using several behavioural approaches: conditioned place preference, locomotor sensitization, precipitated withdrawal, and self-administration. Also, effects of PZM21 on morphine-induced antinociception, tolerance, and reward were assessed. Effects of PZM21 on striatal release of monoamines were evaluated using brain microdialysis.Key Results: PZM21 caused long-lasting dose-dependent antinociception. It did not induce reward-and reinforcement-related behaviour; however, its repeated administration led to antinociceptive tolerance and naloxone-precipitated withdrawal symptoms. Pretreatment with PZM21 enhanced morphine-induced antinociception and attenuated the expression of morphine reward. In comparison to morphine, PZM21 administration induced a moderate release of dopamine and a robust release of 5-HT in the striatum.Conclusions and Implications: PZM21 exhibited antinociceptive efficacy, without rewarding or reinforcing properties. However, its clinical application may be restricted, as it induces tolerance and withdrawal symptoms. Notably, its ability to diminish morphine reward implies that PZM21 may be useful in treatment of opioid use disorders. | INTRODUCTIONAlthough opioid analgesics are usually the first choice and most effective treatments for pain, numerous side effects, including a strong addictive potential, severely limit their clinical effectiveness (Webster et al., 2011). Substantial evidence indicates that opioidinduced analgesia and adverse effects are processed by distinct cell signalling pathways. Analgesia is promoted by G protein signalling,

Stress elicits the release of glucocorticoids (GCs) that regulate energy metabolism and play a role in emotional memory. Astrocytes express glucocorticoid receptors (GR), but their contribution to cognitive effects of GC’s action in the brain is unknown. To address this question, we studied how astrocyte-specific elimination of GR affects animal behavior known to be regulated by stress. Mice with astrocyte-specific ablation of GR presented impaired aversive memory expression in two different paradigms of Pavlovian learning: contextual fear conditioning and conditioned place aversion. These mice also displayed compromised regulation of genes encoding key elements of the glucose metabolism pathway upon GR stimulation. In particular, we identified that the glial, but not the neuronal isoform of a crucial stress-response molecule, Sgk1, undergoes GR-dependent regulation in vivo and demonstrated the involvement of SGK1 in regulation of glucose uptake in astrocytes. Together, our results reveal astrocytes as a central element in GC-dependent formation of aversive memory and suggest their relevance for stress-induced alteration of brain glucose metabolism. Consequently, astrocytes should be considered as a cellular target of therapies of stress-induced brain diseases.

Molecular modeling approaches are an indispensable part of the drug design process. They not only support the process of searching for new ligands of a given receptor, but they also play an important role in explaining particular activity pathways of a compound. In this study, a comprehensive molecular modeling protocol was developed to explain the observed activity profiles of selected µ opioid receptor agents: two G protein-biased µ opioid receptor agonists (PZM21 and SR-17018), unbiased morphine, and the β-arrestin-2-biased agonist, fentanyl. The study involved docking and molecular dynamics simulations carried out for three crystal structures of the target at a microsecond scale, followed by the statistical analysis of ligand–protein contacts. The interaction frequency between the modeled compounds and the subsequent residues of a protein during the simulation was also correlated with the output of in vitro and in vivo tests, resulting in the set of amino acids with the highest Pearson correlation coefficient values. Such indicated positions may serve as a guide for designing new G protein-biased ligands of the µ opioid receptor.