Opiate receptor-mediated inhibition of adenylate cyclase activity was elicited in membranes of C6BUI glioma cells and S49 cyc− lymphoma cells after fusion with opiate receptor-containing membranes derived from NG108-15 neuroblastoma × glioma hybrid cells. The fusion was induced by polyethylene glycol using procedures developed by Orly and Schramm [(1976) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 73, 4410–4414]. Prior to fusion, the adenylate cyclase activity of the donor, NG108-15 cell membrane, was inactivated by N-ethylmaleimide treatment. Prostaglandin E1 receptors and the stimulatory GTP-binding protein Ns were transferred to the recipient cells along with opiate receptors. Thus, inhibitory receptors can be tranferred to foreign adenylate cyclase systems just as stimulatory receptors had earlier been found to do. Furthermore, opiate receptors have been shown to function in non-neuronal cells.
