Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.7.48 (transcriptase)
9,479 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The adipocyte-derived cytokine leptin is thought to play a key role in the control of satiety and energy expenditure. Because adipogenesis and angiogenesis are tightly correlated during the fat mass development, we tested the hypothesis that leptin is able to modulate the growth of the vasculature. Experiments were performed using cultured human umbilical venous endothelial cells (HUVECs) and porcine aortic endothelial cells. The presence of 170-kDa endothelial leptin receptor (Ob-R) was assessed in HUVECs by Western blot analysis. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis using specific oligonucleotides for the short and long Ob-R forms further revealed the expression of both Ob-R transcripts in endothelial cells. Moreover, leptin evoked a time-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation of a number of endothelial proteins, the most prominent of which were the mitogen-activated protein kinases Erk1/2. Treatment of HUVECs with leptin led to a concentration-dependent increase in cell number that was maximal at 10 ng/mL leptin and equivalent to that elicited by vascular endothelial growth factor. This effect was associated with an enhanced formation of capillary-like tubes in an in vitro angiogenesis assay and neovascularization in an in vivo model of angiogenesis. These results indicate that leptin, via activation of the endothelial Ob-R, generates a growth signal involving a tyrosine kinase-dependent intracellular pathway and promotes angiogenic processes. We speculate that this leptin-mediated stimulation of angiogenesis might represent not only a key event in the settlement of obesity but also may contribute to the modulation of growth under physiological and pathophysiological conditions in other tissues.
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PMID:Leptin, the product of Ob gene, promotes angiogenesis. 981 53

The receptor for the gene product of the obesity gene, leptin, was recently reported to be expressed on murine and human hematopoietic progenitor cells. Therefore, we studied the expression of the leptin receptor, OB-R, in normal myeloid precursors, human leukemia cell lines, and primary leukemic cells using reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. In normal hematopoiesis, OB-R was expressed in CD34(+) cells. Normal promyelocytes (CD34(-)33(+) and CD34(-)13(+)) expressed only very low levels of the short, presumably nonsignaling isoform. Both the long and short isoforms of OB-R were expressed in 10 of 22 samples from patients with newly diagnosed primary or secondary acute myeloid leukemia (AML), with a higher incidence of the long isoform in primary AML (87.6% v 28.6%; P =.01). The incidence of OB-R expression was higher in recurrent than in newly diagnosed AML (P <.001), and samples from four patients with refractory AML showed strong expression of both isoforms. Both OB-R isoforms were also expressed in newly diagnosed and recurrent acute promyelocytic leukemia cells but were essentially absent in samples of chronic or acute lymphocytic leukemia. In vitro growth of myeloid leukemic cell lines and of blasts from 14 primary AMLs demonstrated that recombinant human leptin alone induced low level proliferation, significantly (P <.05) increased proliferation induced by recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, interleukin 3, and stem cell factor in a subset of AML and increased colony formation (P <.005). Also, leptin reduced apoptosis induced by cytokine withdrawal in MO7E and TF-1 cells. Serum leptin levels correlated only with body mass index (P <. 001) and gender (P =.03). Results confirm the reported expression of leptin receptor in normal CD34(+) cells and demonstrate the frequent expression of leptin receptors in AML blasts. While normal promyelocytes lack receptor expression, leukemic promyelocytes express both isoforms. We also demonstrate proliferative effects of leptin alone and in combination with other physiologic cytokines, and anti-apoptotic properties of leptin. These findings could have implications for the pathophysiology of AML.
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PMID:Expression and function of leptin receptor isoforms in myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes: proliferative and anti-apoptotic activities. 1002 96

Leptin is the product of the obese gene (ob), and is secreted in plasma from mature adipocytes. It has been recently reported that leptin is synthesized in granulosa and cumulus cells within the follicle of the ovary, and is present in mature human oocytes, suggesting possible roles of leptin in several aspects of pre- and post-ovulatory follicular development. On the other hand, STAT (Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription) transcription factors are involved in leptin-associated signal transduction. In this report, we studied the expression of leptin receptor and STAT3 activation by leptin in metaphase 2 stage (M2) oocytes. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunoblotting showed that mRNA and protein of leptin receptor were expressed in M2 stage oocyte. Leptin at 15 ng/ml, the concentration observed in follicular fluid, caused tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT3 in mouse M2 stage oocytes. These results suggest possible roles of leptin in several aspects during oocyte maturation by activating the STAT signal transduction pathway.
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PMID:Tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT3 by leptin through leptin receptor in mouse metaphase 2 stage oocyte. 1008 Sep 23

Leptin, the product of the ob gene, is one of the key molecules for the regulation of appetite and whole-body energy balance, and thereby for the pathogenesis of obesity. In an attempt to clarify the roles of leptin in obesity and/or related diseases in companion animals, canine leptin c DNA was cloned by amplifying reverse-transcriptase products of RNA extracted from the adipose tissue of the beagle. A c DNA clone of about 3 kbp contained a 501 bp open reading frame coding a 167-amino acid protein with a 21-amino acid signal peptide. The sequence of a 146-amino acid mature leptin was more than 79 per cent identical to those of other mammals. Northern blot analysis revealed abundant expression of leptin m RNA in adipose tissue, but not in other tissues, in adult beagles. When Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing the rat leptin receptor were stimulated with recombinant canine leptin produced by E. coli, some intracellular signal transduction proteins were phosphorylated, indicating that the recombinant leptin was biologically active. The data reported herein will be helpful for further studies of leptin of the dog in health and disease.
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PMID:Canine leptin: cDNA cloning, expression and activity of recombinant protein. 1075 26

The adipocyte hormone, leptin, acts via the central nervous system to modulate glucose metabolism by skeletal muscle, but the direct effects of leptin on glucose metabolism by skeletal muscle are unclear. In this study, we have examined effects of leptin on glucose uptake by cultured L6 muscle cells assessed with the non-metabolised glucose analogue 2-deoxy-D-glucose. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis of RNA showed that L6 muscle cells express a short isoform of the leptin receptor (ObRa), but not the long isoform (ObRb). In the absence of added insulin, incubation of L6 muscle cells with murine leptin (10( -11)-10( -8) M) for 10 min and 1 h increased glucose uptake by 15 % - 23 %. This effect of leptin was lost by 4 h. Leptin (10( -10) - 10( -9) M) initially (after 10 min) suppressed insulin-stimulated glucose uptake by 14 - 16 %, but had no effect in the longer term. Leptin-stimulated glucose uptake was inhibited by the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor wortmannin, but not by the janus kinase-2 (JAK-2) inhibitor tyrphostin AG490. The results suggest that leptin can act directly on L6 muscle cellsvia a short leptin receptor isoform to acutely stimulate basal (but not insulin-stimulated) glucose uptake via a PI3K-dependent pathway.
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PMID:Acute stimulation of glucose uptake by leptin in l6 muscle cells. 1197 98

The placenta is a major source of leptin in the fetomaternal circulation, although its physiological role remains to be clarified. Leptin in the fetomaternal circulation is proposed to be a marker of acute stress in the fetus, and the fetus suffering from pre-eclampsia would be under chronic stress. In 16 pre-eclamptic placentas, the expressions of leptin, hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha (HIF1alpha) and leptin receptor mRNAs were analyzed by semi-quantitative reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and compared with clinical data. The co-expressions of leptin and the isoforms of the leptin receptor were observed in all the pre-eclamptic placentas. Leptin mRNA was significantly augmented in the pre-eclamptic placentas, although the level in fetal plasma was not high. The level of the expression of leptin mRNA was correlated with the placental HIF1alpha mRNA level and fetal body weight, but not with the levels of the leptin receptor isoforms in the pre-eclamptic placentas. This observation may suggest that autocrine/paracrine regulation of leptin exists in the human placenta and is upregulated in the pre-eclamptic placenta.
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PMID:Augmentation of leptin and hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha mRNAs in the pre-eclamptic placenta. 1534 62

This study investigated the expression profile of placental leptin and leptin receptor isoforms in preeclampsia, using placental tissue from normal pregnancies that were matched in gestational age and birth weight as controls. A total of 29 cases of preeclampsia were studied by immunohistochemistry, including 16 severe and 13 mild preeclampsia cases. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was further performed using RNA extracted from frozen tissue (10 severe preeclampsia, 10 mild preeclampsia, and 20 normal third trimester placentas). In all tissue sections, immunostaining signal was shown in the cytoplasmic compartment of the trophoblastic cells. Both the severe and mild preeclampsia groups showed significantly higher immunostaining for leptin compared with normal controls (p < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between the severe and mild preeclampsia groups (p > 0.05). There was no significant difference in immunostaining for leptin receptor between both severe and mild preeclampsia compared with controls (p > 0.05). RT-PCR showed significantly higher levels of mRNA transcripts of leptin in severe preeclampsia (p < 0.05), but not mild preeclampsia (p > 0.05), compared with normal controls. No significant difference in expression of all the receptor isoforms was demonstrated between both severe and mild preeclampsia groups compared with controls (p > 0.05). In conclusion, we confirmed an up-regulated expression of leptin in placental tissue in preeclampsia. However, there was no difference in the expression of all leptin receptor isoforms in placental tissue between preeclamptic and normal pregnancies. The leptin signal probably does not play a major primary role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.
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PMID:Expression of placental leptin and leptin receptors in preeclampsia. 1538 8