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Current Research Projects MIDARP (funded by NIDA) The Minority Institutions' Drug Abuse Research Development Program (MIDARP)
at the Neuroscience Research Institute is focused on studies in the areas of
substance abuse. Previously the Old Westbury MIDARP discovered a novel
opiate receptor subtype, designated mu3, that is opiate alkaloid selective and
opioid peptide insensitive. The faculty have special interests in molecular and
cellular neuroimmunology related to the National Institute on Drug Abuse
priorities, e.g., endogenous morphine and opiate induced immune downregulation.
The major research projects incorporated into this program are: 1) Determining
the process of morphine biosynthesis, including the identification of morphine
precursors and enzymes; and 2) Determining the signal transduction pathway, gene
and protein expression of the mu3 opiate receptor in various conditions and how
it is related to drug addiction, and to clone, sequence, and study the function
of the new mu4 gene.
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