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Query: UNIPROT:P01178 (oxytocin)
 15,767 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The cellular distribution of neurophysin was examined in hypothalami and neural lobes of normal Long-Evans rats and Brattleboro rats deficient in vasopressin and a major neurophysin. Tissue sections were treated with antisera to bovine, human, and rat neurophysins, using immunoperoxidase bridge techniques. Antisera to oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (VP) were applied to adjacent sections. Two distinct cell populations were discernible in both magnocellular nuclei on the basis of the intensity of cytoplasmic staining. About half of the magnocellular neurons in the supraoptic (SON) and paraventricular (PVN) nuclei of homozygous Brattleboro rats with diabetes insipidus (DI) were devoid of immunoreactive neurophysin, OT, and VP. These cells were presumably the defective counterparts of those neurons that produce VP and its associated neurophysin in normal and heterozygous Brattleboro rats. The cells in homozygous DI rats which were stained with immunoreaction products to NP and OT were more concentrated in the dorsal part of the SON and in the periphery of the PVN. Spatial segregation of different neurons was also seen in the neural lobe, where clusters of stained axons were surrounded by bundles of nerve fibers lacking immunoreactive material. In normal rats and heterozygotes nearly all magnocellular neurons reacted immunologically with antiserum to neurophysin but with different intensities, so that "dark" and "light" cells could be distinguished. The darker cells in heterozygous Brattleboro rats had the same pattern of distribution as cells which contained OT. In homozygous DI rats, only some of those cells which contained neurophysin and OT exhibited a positive reaction with antiserum to VP due to slight reactivity with OT. The results obtained in the homozygous Brattleboro rat would suggest that OT and VP and their associated neurophysins are produced in different neurons in both the SON and PVN. However, in normal rats and in heterozygous Brattleboro rats, VP appeared to be present in both OT-positive and OT-negative neurons suggesting that some cells may have the capacity to synthesize two hormones.
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PMID:The hypothalamic-neurohypophysial system of the rat: localization and quantitation of neurophysin by light microscopic immunocytochemistry in normal rats and in Brattleboro rats deficient in vasopressin and a neurophysin. 126 12

1. Magnocellular neurosecretory cells (MNCs) were isolated from the supraoptic nucleus of adult Long-Evans rats using an enzymatic procedure. Immunocytochemical staining with antibodies against vasopressin and oxytocin revealed that MNCs can be identified by size. The membrane properties of these cells were examined at 32-34 degrees C using intracellular recording methods. 2. Isolated MNCs displayed a mean (+/- S.E.M.; n = 109) resting membrane potential of -64.1 +/- 1.0 mV, an input resistance of 571 +/- 34 M omega, and a time constant of 8.7 +/- 0.4 ms. Measurements of specific resistivity and input capacitance revealed that the soma of these cells accounts for a mere 20% of their total somato-dendritic membrane in situ. 3. Voltage-current relations measured near -60 mV were linear negative to spike threshold. From more hyperpolarized membrane potentials, voltage responses to depolarizing current steps displayed transient outward rectification and delayed impulse discharge. 4. Action potentials (76.6 +/- 0.9 mV) triggered from an apparent threshold of -59.3 +/- 0.1 mV broadened progressively at the onset of spontaneous or current-evoked spike trains. Steady-state spike duration increased as a logarithmic function of firing frequency with a maximum near 25 Hz. These effects were abolished in Ca(2+)-free solutions. 5. In all cells, evoked spike trains were followed by a prolonged Ca(2+)-sensitive after-hyperpolarization. In contrast, only a small proportion (16%) of MNCs displayed spontaneous bursting activity or depolarizing after-potentials following brief current-evoked bursts. 6. Isolated MNCs responded to amino acids (glutamate and GABA) and to the neuropeptide cholecystokinin, indicating that receptors for these neurotransmitters are expressed postsynaptically by MNCs and are retained following dissociation. 7. Increasing the osmolality of the superfusing solution by 5-30 mosmol kg-1 caused a membrane depolarization associated with a decrease of input resistance and accelerated spontaneous spike discharge in each of thirty-six MNCs tested. Current-clamp analysis suggested that these responses resulted from the activation of a cationic conductance. Excitatory effects of hyperosmolality were not observed in non-magnocellular neurones (n = 6).
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PMID:Properties of supraoptic magnocellular neurones isolated from the adult rat. 136 42

Magnocellular neurones in the supraoptic nuclei of normal Long Evans and homozygous Brattleboro rats were examined electron-microscopically after intracisternal injections of tunicamycin, puromycin, or brefeldin A. Moderate (50 micrograms) or high (200 micrograms) doses of tunicamycin caused the formation of electron-dense filamentous accretions in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) cisterns of vasopressin neurones, but only the high dose of tunicamycin also caused accretions to form in the ER of some oxytocin neurones. Immunogold labelling of ultrathin sections from tunicamycin-treated rats revealed that, in about 5% of vasopressin neurones, the accretions could be immunogold-labelled for vasopressin and its associated neurophysin. However, in the majority of vasopressin neurones, the sections required trypsinisation before immunolabelling of the accretions could be detected. Small accretions in the ER of oxytocin neurones did not label for oxytocin or its neurophysin without prior trypsinisation, whereas larger accretions in other oxytocin cells could be labelled without prior trypsin treatment. Administration of puromycin resulted in the formation of small ER accretions in both vasopressin and oxytocin neurones. These accretions were immunolabelled with antisera, respectively, to vasopressin and oxytocin, but neurophysin-immunoreactivity was in most cases absent and was not revealed by treatment with trypsin, suggesting that neurophysin-immunoreactive epitopes were absent from truncated peptides forming the accretions. Brefeldin A caused dilatation of ER cisterns and disruption of the Golgi apparatus in both oxytocin and vasopressin neurones, but did not cause accretions to form in the ER.
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PMID:Tunicamycin, puromycin and brefeldin A influence the subcellular distribution of neuropeptides in hypothalamic magnocellular neurones of rat. 142 14

Peripheral administration of vasopressin (VP) was previously shown to exert a negative feedback influence on its own release and on the release of oxytocin (OT). In this study we examined the possible influence that OT has on the function of hypothalamic magnocellular neurones. Oxytocin was administered intraperitoneally and its effects on release from VP neurones and from OT neurones were determined as indexed by plasma concentrations of vasopressin-associated neurophysin ([VP-RNP]) and oxytocin-associated neurophysin ([OT-RNP]) under basal conditions and conditions of high plasma osmolality (Posm) induced by acute salt loading. Studies were performed on conscious, chronically instrumented Long-Evans rats. Oxytocin (1 nmol or 10 nmol) dissolved in 1 mL of 0.9% saline was administered intraperitoneally to animals 1 h before they received an intravenous infusion of hypertonic saline over 60 min at a rate designed to raise Posm by approximately 0.75 mosmol.min-1. Intraperitoneal injection of vehicle or 1 nmol of OT did not significantly alter [VP-RNP], [OT-RNP], or basal Posm. Administration of 10 nmol OT also had no effect on [VP-RNP] or [OT-RNP], but this dose of peptide significantly lowered basal Posm (299 +/- 2 to 290 +/- 2 mosmol/kg H2O, p less than 0.001). Both doses of OT did not significantly alter the responsiveness of VP neurones to hyperosmotic stimulation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Absence of negative feedback by oxytocin on release from magnocellular neurones in conscious rats. 158 42

Ovarian extracts of Long-Evans rats separated using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were measured by radioimmunoassays (RIAs) for the presence of oxytocin and arginine vasopressin (AVP). The results showed that the ovary contains both, and that they are indistinguishable from the respective standard synthetic peptides. During the estrous cycle, the ovarian content of oxytocin was 10-fold higher (p less than 0.01) in estrus than in the other phases, while AVP was 16- and 25-fold higher (p less than 0.01) in metestrus than in the other phases. In contrast, the plasma levels of oxytocin showed no significant difference among the various phases of the estrous cycle. However, the plasma level of AVP level was significantly higher (p less than 0.01) in diestrus than in other phases. The present study thus strongly supports the hypothesis that both oxytocin and AVP can be produced by the ovary itself in the rat. The possible roles of oxytocin and AVP in the reproductive cycle are discussed.
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PMID:Ovarian and circulating levels of oxytocin and arginine vasopressin during the estrous cycle in the rat. 164 89

The hypothesis that the retrieval of membranes of neurohypophysial neurosecretory granules (NSG) and small electron-lucent microvesicles occurs by different routes was tested by incubating neurohypophysial neurosecretosomes with colloidal gold particles of various sizes. Neurosecretosomes derived from normal Long Evans rats and incubated in media of normal ionic composition endocytosed a few small (less than 25 nm) gold particles into 40-50 nm electron-lucent microvesicles. After depolarisation, more small gold particles were found in microvesicles, and small and large (greater than 25 nm) gold particles in vacuoles. Oxytocin-containing neurosecretosomes derived from Brattleboro rats, which contain 160 nm-diameter NSG, endocytosed gold particles in a pattern indistinguishable from that of neurosecretosomes from Long Evans rats. However, neurosecretosomes derived from defective vasopressin neurones of Brattleboro rats, which contain microvesicles, small vacuoles, and a few 100 nm dense-cored vesicles, but no 160 nm NSG, endocytosed only small colloidal gold particles. Early after depolarisation the gold particles were present only in microvesicles, but later some could be found in vacuoles and lysosome-like structures. Immunogold cytochemistry using a polyclonal antiserum raised against microvesicle-rich neurosecretosomes derived from Brattleboro rats labelled microvesicles in the posterior pituitary strongly, NSG weakly, and vacuoles to a variable extent. These data together indicate that, after exocytosis, the membranes of NSG are recaptured as large vacuoles. Microvesicles are exocytosed and endocytosed separately.
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PMID:Membrane routing during exocytosis and endocytosis in neuroendocrine neurones and endocrine cells: use of colloidal gold particles and immunocytochemical discrimination of membrane compartments. 171 42

Light microscopic observations using Nomarski interference contrast optics or darkfield optics on unstained aldehyde-fixed vibratome sections of hypothalami from normal young adult male and female Long Evans rats and from vasopressin-deficient Brattleboro rats, revealed the presence of cells in the supraoptic, paraventricular and periventricular nuclei which possessed yellow birefringent inclusions of globular or filamentous appearance in their somata. These inclusions were morphologically distinct from the large lipid droplets present in vasopressinergic magnocellular neurons of diabetes insipidus mice. Small portions of the vibratome sections containing the birefringent cells were excised and prepared for correlative electron microscopy. This revealed that the birefringent inclusions represented electron-dense material within cisterns of endoplasmic reticulum in magnocellular neurons. Antibodies to oxytocin or oxytocin-associated neurophysin immunolabelled the intracisternal electron-dense material and neurosecretory granules in resin-embedded ultrathin sections. Antibodies to vasopressin or vasopressin-associated neurophysin, and a panel of lectins did not label the intracisternal material. Quantitation revealed a small increase in the numbers of birefringent cells in aged rats and in rats drinking saline for 3 days. Subcutaneous injection of oestradiol benzoate for 7 days prior to fixation caused a large increase. After cessation of oestradiol administration the numbers of birefringent cells decreased; observations on the remaining cells showed that the endoplasmic reticulum cisterns were frequently fused with the plasmalemma, resulting in direct release of neurosecretory material into the extracellular spaces.
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PMID:Peptide accretions in the endoplasmic reticulum of magnocellular neurosecretory neurons in normal and experimentally manipulated rats. 181 Sep 24

The contribution of oxytocin to the maintenance of renal Na+ excretion in the Brattleboro rat has been examined in animals infused with hypotonic saline. Brattleboro rats exhibited hypernatraemia and hyperosmolality associated with greatly increased plasma concentrations of oxytocin by comparison with Long-Evans control rats. Neurohypophysectomy to remove the secretion of the remaining posterior pituitary peptide, oxytocin, led to greatly diminished rates of Na+ excretion in the Brattleboro rat. Oxytocin replacement to achieve plasma levels equivalent to those in intact Brattleboro rats produced a substantial and sustained natriuresis in the neurohypophysectomized animal. Oxytocin secretion evoked in response to saline infusion would thus appear to be effective in promoting renal Na+ excretion in the absence of vasopressin in the Brattleboro rat.
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PMID:Influence of oxytocin on sodium excretion in the anaesthetized Brattleboro rat. 203 Mar 28

In the adult male Wistar rat a 2-fold 2-min restraint stress exposure, repeated 15 min apart, activated the adrenocortical secretion more than a single one would have. However, in rats with a pharmacological block of the endogenous CRF release, exogenous CRH (0.3 micrograms/kg iv), administered 15 min after a first similar dose, was unable to stimulate pituitary-adrenocortical activity above the level attained with the first peptide injection. On the contrary, in the same conditions exogenous arginine vasopressin (AVP) (0.3 micrograms/kg iv) administered 15 min after CRH, was able to further stimulate pituitary-adrenocortical activity. Using the same experimental procedure, oxytocin (0.3 micrograms/kg iv) was found to be totally inactive. The physiological import of these findings was investigated in the Brattleboro rat, genetically lacking in endogenous AVP, in which, unlike the control Long-Evans strain, the 2-fold stress exposure did not cause an increase in plasma corticosterone concentration greater than that of a single exposure. These results suggest that endogenous AVP is essential in sustaining adrenocortical activation in circumstances in which pituitary refractoriness towards CRH stimulation intervenes.
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PMID:Evidence for a specific role of vasopressin in sustaining pituitary-adrenocortical stress response in the rat. 203 82

We examined the effects of acute and chronic treatments with naloxone on release of vasopressin and oxytocin from the hypothalamoneurohypophyseal system (HNS) in conscious, chronically instrumented Long-Evans rats. Plasma concentrations of vasopressin-associated neurophysin and oxytocin-associated neurophysin were evaluated before and during an intravenous infusion of 18% saline at 100 microL.kg-1 body weight.min-1 for 60 min. Acute treatment with naloxone (2.75 mumol/kg, intravenous) did not measurably alter basal plasma osmolality or vasopressin-associated neurophysin concentration, but it caused a three-fold rise in basal plasma oxytocin-associated neurophysin concentration (16 +/- 2 to 46 +/- 3 fmol/mL, p less than 0.005). Chronic treatment with naloxone (13.75 mumol/day, subcutaneous pellets) increased plasma osmolality (292 +/- 1 to 300 +/- 2 mosmol/kg H2O, p less than 0.01) by day 5, but it had no measurable effects on basal vasopressin- or oxytocin-associated neurophysin concentration. There were also no significant differences in plasma sodium concentration (144.8 +/- 1.1 vs. 142.2 +/- 1.4 mequiv./L) under both conditions. Acute and chronic treatments with naloxone accompanied by salt loading produced a five- and four-fold decrease in the rates that plasma concentration of vasopressin-associated neurophysin changed with plasma osmolality, compared with untreated salt-loaded control rats. For oxytocin secretion from the HNS, both treatments accompanied by salt loading substantially decreased the threshold for changes in relation to plasma osmolality; the rise in plasma concentration of oxytocin-associated neurophysin was similar at all levels of hyperosmotic stimulation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Influence of opioid peptides on release from vasopressin and oxytocin neurones of the hypothalamoneurohypophyseal system: effects of naloxone in the conscious rat. 234 Apr 46


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