This study was designed to test the hypothesis that inhibition of agonist-induced ␦-receptor down-regulation would block the development of opioid tolerance in a cell-based model. A human embryonic kidney 293 cell line was established that expressed an epitope-tagged ␦-opioid receptor (DOR). Opioid receptors are members of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily and mediate the effects of endogenous opioid peptides in the central, peripheral and enteric nervous systems. Opioid receptors are also the molecular targets of opioid drugs, such as morphine. Opioids are the most powerful analgesic drugs available currently and are the treatment of choice for the management of moderate to severe pain (McQuay, 1999). Adverse effects, including respiratory depression, nausea, and constipation, affect their use, and protracted opioid therapy leads to drug tolerance and physical dependence. Tolerance is defined as a loss of efficacy following repeated administration, and it is common for patients on long-term opioid therapy to increase their dosage (Sittl et al., 2005). Adaptive changes at the molecular, cellular, synaptic, and neural network level are induced by habitual use of opioid analgesics, although much remains to be learned about the mechanisms involved in the adaptive plasticity (Bailey and Connor, 2005). Opioid receptors, like other GPCRs, are subject to agonist-induced desensitization and internalization, involving phosphorylation of receptors by G protein receptor kinases and association with -arrestins (Lefkowitz and Shenoy, 2005), whereas chronic exposure leads to receptor down-regulation, which involves proteolysis of the receptors. Both desensitization and down-regulation are probably involved in opioid tolerance. It has been shown that -and ␦-opioid receptors are phosphorylated by G protein receptor kinases after agonist treatment (Pei et al., 1995) and are sequestered by endocytosis in an arrestin-and dynamin-dependent process via clathrin-coated pits (Chu et al., 1997). Morphine analgesia is enhanced in knockout mice