Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P01178 (oxytocin)
 15,767 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

I would like to comment on the letters of Dr. Bruce (August 19, p. 380) and Dr. Alderman (August 5, p. 279) concerning the part played by an inflated Foley catheter balloon in the uterus when abortion is being induced with extraamniotic (PGs) prostaglandins and/or oxytocin. That some mechanical stimulation of the uterus may result cannot be denied, but several factors have to be considered. The size of the balloon relative to that of the uterus no doubt plays an important part in the irritability produced, and the volume of the balloon in Dr. Bruce's investigation was much larger than that used by Alderman et al. (July 1, p. 5), and ourselves. If the balloon is too large, the dilation needed before it is expelled may be more than that required for fetal expulsion and the abortion may be unnecessarily delayed. On the other hand, if the baloon is too small it may be extruded prematurely, as Alderman et al. found. A further point is that if, occasionally, insertion of the catheter results in a bloody tap by disturbing the placental site, a greater than average degree of uterine contractility might ensue. In 2 cases we have inserted a Foley balloon (without obtaining a bloody tap) at 18 weeks gestation and inflated with 40 ml. of sterile water. Intrauterine activity was recorded for 18 hours via the open end of the Foley catheter. The amount of uterine activity produced was negligible, particularly when compared with that seen upon the addition of extraamniotic PGs.
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PMID:Abortion with extra-amniotic prostaglandins. 411 2

This tribute to Bruce Merrifield traces the author's fortuitous path in 1964 from Vincent du Vigneaud's laboratory to the laboratory of D. W. Woolley to learn the solid phase method and then to his first faculty position in the Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montreal in 1965. It recalls the key roles played from early 1966 to July 1967 by Bruce Merrifield, John Stewart, Arnold Marglin, Herb Takashima, and Vincent du Vigneaud in providing key advice to the author's efforts to use the solid phase method to synthesize oxytocin; while simultaneously the du Vigneaud and Merrifield laboratories were collaborating on the solid phase synthesis of deamino-oxytocin. Both syntheses were published in the same issue of the Journal of American Chemical Society in 1968. Also described is how this breakthrough impacted the author's scientific career: by leading to highly productive collaborative studies, initially with Wilbur H. Sawyer and subsequently with others, on the design and synthesis of selective agonists, antagonists, and radioiodinated ligands for oxytocin and vasopressin receptors. These syntheses were greatly facilitated by the contributions of highly talented graduate students, research technicians, and visiting peptide chemists from Hungary, England, Poland, Bulgaria, and China. Many of these peptides have become very valuable pharmacological tools in studies on the peripheral and central effects of oxytocin and vasopressin: further attesting to the profound impact of the solid phase method as the cornerstone for all the discoveries, which he and his collaborators and coworkers have made over the past 40 years.
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PMID:Impact of the Merrifield solid phase method on the design and synthesis of selective agonists and antagonists of oxytocin and vasopressin: a historical perspective. 1761 Feb 61

The Bruce effect is a pheromonally mediated process whereby exposure to chemosensory cues from an unfamiliar male terminates pregnancy in a recently mated female. Pharmacological and genetic evidence implicates both oxytocin (Oxt) and vasopressin (Avp) in the regulation of social memory in males, but less work has been done in females. We tested the extent to which the Avp receptors (Avprs) 1a and 1b and Oxt are essential for the Bruce effect, a phenomenon that relies on olfactory memory. Adult female mice were paired with stimulus males and monitored for the presence of sperm plugs. Wild-type, heterozygous, and homozygous knockout (KO) females for either the Avpr1a, Avpr1b, or Oxt genes were randomly assigned to one of the following treatment groups: 1) alone (mate removed, no second exposure to another animal); 2) paired continuously (mate kept with female for 10-14 d); 3) familiar male (mate removed, reintroduced 24 h later); or 4) unfamiliar male (mate removed, BalbC male introduced 24 h later). Regardless of genotype, 90-100% of females in the alone or paired continuously groups became pregnant. The Oxt KO females terminated their pregnancies regardless of whether their original mate or an unfamiliar male was reintroduced. The Avpr1b KO mice failed to terminate pregnancy in the presence of an unfamiliar male. The Avpr1a KO mice exhibited a normal Bruce effect. These data demonstrate that both Oxt and the Avpr1b are critical for the normal expression of the Bruce effect but have different effects on the interpretation of social cues.
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PMID:Inactivation of the oxytocin and the vasopressin (Avp) 1b receptor genes, but not the Avp 1a receptor gene, differentially impairs the Bruce effect in laboratory mice (Mus musculus). 1794 52