Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0432222 (SEM)
 47,337 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Urocortin III (Ucn III)/stresscopin (SCP) is a novel peptide of the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) family and is a specific ligand for the CRF type 2 receptor. We wished to clarify whether Ucn III/SCP is expressed in the human heart and kidney. Immunoreactive Ucn III was detected by RIA in the human heart (0.74-1.15 pmol/g wet weight, mean +/- SEM; n = 4) and kidney (1.21 +/- 0.30 pmol/g wet weight), which were obtained at autopsy. These levels were comparable to the levels in pituitary (2.72 +/- 0.13 pmol/g wet weight; n = 3) and brain tissues ( approximately 1-2 pmol/g wet weight). Furthermore, immunoreactive Ucn III was present in human plasma (51.8 +/- 16.0 pmol/liter; n = 5) and urine (266 +/- 20 pmol/liter; n = 5) obtained from healthy subjects. Reverse-phase HPLC showed a broad peak of immunoreactive Ucn III eluting in the position of synthetic Ucn III in the heart, kidney, and hypothalamus. Material eluting in the position of SCP was also found in the HPLC analysis of these tissue extracts. Immunocytochemistry showed positive staining of Ucn III in the myocardium and the renal tubules, particularly distal tubules. RT-PCR showed expression of Ucn III mRNA in the brain, pituitary, heart, and kidney. The present study has shown expression of Ucn III/SCP in the human heart and kidney as well as brain and pituitary tissues and its presence in plasma and urine. Ucn III/SCP may therefore regulate the cardiac and renal function as a local factor and a circulating hormone.
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PMID:Expression of urocortin III/stresscopin in human heart and kidney. 1507 Sep 62

Urocortin 3 (Ucn 3) or stresscopin (SCP) is a new member of the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) neuropeptide family and is a specific ligand for CRF type 2 receptor (CRF2). CRF receptors are known to be expressed in the gastrointestinal tract and are considered to play pathophysiological roles, for example, in gastrointestinal motility under stress. We, therefore, examined Ucn 3 expression in the normal human large intestine obtained from surgery and autopsy in order to clarify this local response to stress in human intestine. Both immunohistochemistry and mRNA in situ hybridization demonstrated Ucn 3 expression in myenteric and submucosal nervous plexus, in vascular endothelial cells (VECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) of blood vessels in subserosa, in smooth muscle layers of the large intestine, and in enterochromaffin cells. In contrast to Urocortin 1 (Ucn 1), Ucn 3 was hardly detected in lamina propria (LP) inflammatory cells in colonic mucosa. In addition, immunohistochemistry demonstrated CRF2 expression in myenteric and submucosal nervous plexus, in smooth muscle layers, in VECs, in VSMCs and in lamina propria inflammatory cells. Immunoreactive Ucn 3 was also detected in the large intestine by RIA, with high concentrations detected in the rectum (15.4+/-9.5 pmol/g wet weight, mean+/-SEM, n=3) and sigmoid colon (6.5+/-3.5 pmol/g wet weight, n=5). Reverse-phase HPLC of the human large intestine disclosed peaks eluting in the position of synthetic Ucn 3 or SCP. These findings all suggest that Ucn 3 plays some physiological or pathological roles in the modulation of gastrointestinal functions during stressful conditions in different manners from Ucn 1.
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PMID:Urocortin 3/stresscopin in human colon: possible modulators of gastrointestinal function during stressful conditions. 1594 38