Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:4.6.1.2 (guanylate cyclase)
 8,497 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

1. Bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAE) and smooth muscle cells (BASM) were grown separately and in co-culture. 2. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) caused dose-dependent activation of adenylate cyclase in each cell type when grown in isolation. The concentration of CGRP causing half-maximal activation in BAE and BASM was 200 nM and 310 nM, respectively. 3. In cells grown in co-culture exposure to bradykinin produced dose-dependent elevations in cyclic GMP content which were maximal 1 min after application of the agonist. 4. CGRP (1 nM-1 microM) did not stimulate a rise in cyclic GMP in co-cultures. 5. Displaceable CGRP binding was identified throughout the wall of the bovine aorta. 6. We conclude that CGRP receptors coupled to adenylate cyclase are present on BAE and BASM, but there is no coupling of these receptors to the release of any agent (such as endothelium-derived relaxing factor) that activates guanylate cyclase.
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PMID:Action of calcitonin gene-related peptide upon bovine vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells grown in isolation and co-culture. 218 11

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a potent vasodilator and a primary signaling molecule in neurovascular communication. In the present study, the authors examined cerebrovascular responses to CGRP and its related second messenger systems during cerebral vasospasm induced by subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Tension measurements were performed in vitro on ring strips of basilar arteries obtained from rabbits subjected to artificial SAH and from control (non-SAH) animals. In vessels from SAH animals, which were preconstricted with serotonin, the vasorelaxant response to CGRP was attenuated. Because it has been suggested that vasodilation elicited by CGRP is mediated by cyclic 3',5'-adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and/or cyclic 3',5'-guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), the vascular effects of directly activating these second messenger systems were also examined. The relaxant effect of forskolin, which activates adenylate cyclase directly, was slightly enhanced after SAH. In contrast, the relaxant effect of nitroglycerin (GTN), which activates soluble guanylate cyclase directly, was unchanged after SAH. The attenuation of CGRP-induced vasorelaxation could be the result of a modification in its ability to stimulate the production of second messengers. Experiments testing the capacity of CGRP to elevate cAMP levels showed no significant differences between vessels from non-SAH and SAH animals. Similarly, the resting levels of cAMP and the forskolin-induced elevations of cAMP did not differ between non-SAH and SAH animals. In contrast, cGMP levels were lower in resting and CGRP-treated vessels from SAH animals than in those from non-SAH animals. No significant differences in the levels of cGMP were observed between non-SAH and SAH vessels treated with GTN. This study indicates that CGRP-induced vasodilation is attenuated during vasospasm in a rabbit model of SAH. The findings also demonstrate that vasodilatory responses mediated by cAMP and cGMP are intact, although the levels of cGMP in SAH vessels are reduced. Together, these observations suggest that an attenuation in the capacity of vessels to dilate in response to CGRP occurs during cerebral vasospasm, and this change in CGRP vasoactivity is a result of modifications prior to, or independent of, the elevation of cyclic nucleotide second messengers.
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PMID:Effects of subarachnoid hemorrhage on vascular responses to calcitonin gene-related peptide and its related second messengers. 766 31

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) plays a significant role in the non-adrenergic non-cholinergic (NANC) regulation of intestinal tract motility. In this work, the contractile properties of enzymatically isolated circular smooth muscle cells (SMC) from human colon in response to CGRP were evaluated. Relaxation by CGRP (1 microM) was determined in cells maximally contracted by carbachol (CCh, 1 nM). Simultaneously, cGMP contents of SMC were measured by radioimmunoassay. CCh-induced contraction was inhibited by 1 microM CGRP (maximum: 69+/-5% within 60 sec); similarly, exposure of cells to sodium nitroprussiate (SNP), 1 microM, fully inhibited contraction (maximum: 89+/-8% within 30 sec). In the same time-course as for relaxation, CGRP and sodium nitroprussiate caused significant increase in intracellular cGMP levels (2- and 10-fold that of the basal level, respectively, P < 0.01). The nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor, L-N5(I-iminoethyl)ornithine, dihydrochloride, (L-NIO), 1 microM, partly inhibited SMC relaxation induced by CGRP (78.26%); the protein kinase inhibitor, N-(2-aminoethyl)-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide hydrochloride (H9), 1 microM, and the selective cAMP-dependent protein kinase inhibitor, adenosine-3',5'-monophosphorothioate triethylammonium salt, Rp isomer, (Rp-cAMP(S)), 1 microM, also caused inhibition of relaxation (70.30% and 28.6%, respectively). In parallel, the increase in cGMP caused by CGRP was partly reduced by L-NIO (65.47%) and by H9 (55%). In conclusion, the nitric oxide generation following exposure of human colonic SMC to sodium nitroprussiate causes relaxation through the cGMP pathway; on the other hand, exposure of SMC to CGRP causes relaxation in part by activation of nitric oxide synthase and guanylate cyclase and in part through the cAMP pathway.
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PMID:Calcitonin gene-related peptide-induced relaxation of isolated human colonic smooth muscle cells through different intracellular pathways. 980 18

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a potent vasodilator and relaxes smooth muscle of a variety of tissues, but the effects of CGRP on human myometrial contractions and the changes in CGRP receptors (CGRP-Rs) in human myometrium have not been described. We report that CGRP induced dose-dependent relaxation in spontaneously contracting myometrium from pregnant women. This relaxation effect is diminished in myometrium obtained from patients during labor and in the nonpregnant state. CGRP-induced relaxations are inhibited by a CGRP-R antagonist (CGRP(8-37)), a soluble guanylate cyclase inhibitor (LY(83583)), and a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor (L-NAME). Both Western blotting and mRNA analysis showed that CGRP-Rs are present in human myometrium, and that the expression of these receptors is increased during pregnancy and decreased during term labor. Immunofluorescent staining revealed that CGRP-Rs are abundant in the myometrial cells of pregnant women who are not in labor, and are minimal in uterine specimens from women in labor and in the nonpregnant state. We conclude that increased CGRP-Rs in myometrium, and resulting enhanced myometrial sensitivity to CGRP, may play a role in maintaining human myometrium in a quiescent state during pregnancy, and that a decline in the CGRP-Rs at term could contribute to the initiation of labor.
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PMID:Involvement of calcitonin gene-related peptide in the modulation of human myometrial contractility during pregnancy. 1048 70

Electrical field stimulation (EFS)-induced non-adrenergic non-cholinergic (NANC) relaxation responses in the rabbit vaginal wall were investigated. These NANC responses were partially inhibited with the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME; 500 microM), N(G)-nitro-L-arginine (300 microM) or N-iminoethyl-L-ornithine (500 microM) or the selective soluble guanylate cyclase inhibitor 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3,-a]quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ, 10 microM). Application of L-NAME and ODQ concomitantly did not increase the degree of inhibition. L-NAME or ODQ were observed to be more effective at low frequencies. The resistant part of the responses was more pronounced at higher frequencies and was completely inhibited by tetrodotoxin (1 microM). Exogenous application of the peptides vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), pituitary adenylate cyclase activating peptide (PACAP-27 and PACAP-38), peptide histidine methionine (PHM), peptide histidine valine (PHV), helospectin-I or -II induced a relaxation response. Calcitonin gene-related peptide or substance P did not cause any relaxation. The peptidase alpha-chymotrypsin (type II; 2 units ml(-1)) did not affect non-nitrergic NANC responses, although it did inhibit relaxation responses elicited by exogenous VIP, PACAP-27, PACAP-38, PHM, PHV, helospectin-I or -II. K(+) channel inhibitors apamin (1 microM) or charybdotoxin (100 nM) when used alone or in conjunction did not affect non-nitrergic NANC responses. The non-nitrergic NANC responses were not associated with any increase in intracellular cyclic adenosine-3', 5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) or cyclic guanosine-3', 5'-monophosphate (cyclic GMP) concentrations. The peptide-induced relaxations were all associated with increases in cyclic AMP concentrations. These results suggest that a neuronal factor elicits non-nitrergic NANC responses in the rabbit vaginal wall. The identity of this factor remains to be established.
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PMID:Characterization of the non-nitrergic NANC relaxation responses in the rabbit vaginal wall. 1181 90

The neurotransmitters mediating relaxation of lower esophageal sphincter (LES) were studied using circular LES strips from adult pigs in organ baths. LES relaxation by sodium nitroprusside (1 nM-3 microM), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP; 1 nM-1 microM), ATP (10 microM-30 mM), and tricarbonyldichlororuthenum dimer (1 microM-1 mM) was unaffected by tetrodotoxin (1 microM) or l-N(G)-nitroarginine methyl ester (l-NAME; 100 microM). Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP; 1 nM-1 microM) did not affect LES tone. ATP relaxation was blocked by 1 microM apamin and the P2Y(1) antagonist MRS 2179 (N6-methyl 2'-deoxyadenosine 3',5'-bisphosphate; 10 microM). Apamin inhibited PACAP relaxation. VIP and PACAP relaxation was blocked by 10 U/ml alpha-chymotrypsin. L-NAME (-62.52 +/- 13.13%) and 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazole-[4,3-alpha]quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ; 10 microM, -67.67 +/- 6.80%) similarly inhibited electrical LES relaxation, and apamin blocked non-nitrergic relaxation. Nicotine relaxation (100 microM) was inhibited by L-NAME (-60.37 +/- 10.8%) and ODQ (-41.90 +/- 7.89%), and apamin also blocked non-nitrergic relaxation. Non-nitrergic and apamin-sensitive LES relaxation by electrical stimulation or nicotine was strongly inhibited by MRS 2179, slightly inhibited by alpha-chymotrypsin and the P2X(1,2,3) receptor antagonist NF 279 (8,8 cent-[carbonylbis(imino-4,1-phenylenecarbonylimino-4,1-phenylenecarbonylimino)]bis-1,3,5-naphthalenetrisulfonic acid hexasodium salt; 10 microM), and unaffected by tin protoporphyrin IX (100 microM). Porcine LES relaxation after stimulation of intrinsic inhibitory motor neurons is mediated by two main neuromuscular pathways: nitric oxide through guanylate cyclase signaling and apamin-insensitive mechanisms and by non-nitrergic apamin-sensitive neurotransmission mainly mediated by ATP, ADP, or a related purine acting on P2Y1 receptors and a minor contribution of purinergic P2X1,2,3 receptors and PACAP. Nitrergic and purinergic co-transmitters show parallel effects of similar magnitude without major interplay. Our study shows no role for CGRP and only a minor one for VIP and carbon monoxide in porcine LES relaxation.
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PMID:Pharmacologic characterization of intrinsic mechanisms controlling tone and relaxation of porcine lower esophageal sphincter. 1630 17