Naloxone influences NSCs proliferation and differentiation

Naloxone is an opioid-receptor antagonist used to reverse the effects of opioid.In our study, we treated NSCs (neural stem cells) with naloxone and damgo (a selective μopioid receptor agonist), and examined their effects on NSCs proliferation and differentiation.Naloxone was found to promote NSCs proliferation and neural differentiation, while the effects of damgo was very week. The results suggested that naloxone may work indepedent of opioid receptors. To investigate the underlying mechanisms, RNA-seq was conducted. For proliferation analysis,p8 NSCs were cultured with or without naloxone or damgo for 3 days. For differentiation analysis,p8 NSCs was induced to differentiate with or without naloxone or damgo, samples on D2,4,8 were collected and analyzed. p8 and p13 NSC were set as negative control.Samples cultured +/- naloxone and damgo, and samples differentiated +/- naloxone and damgo on D2,4,8 were collected.