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

We have seen that mRNA for several neuropeptides can be visualized at the microscopic level in human post-mortem brain tissues using in situ hybridization histochemistry and oligonucleotides as probes. The specificity of the hybridization signal detected in each case is supported by several criteria such as Northern blot analysis, use of at least two oligonucleotides complementary to different regions of the same target mRNA, cohybridization of labeled and excess unlabeled oligonucleotide probes, and melting curve analysis of the formed hybrids. Furthermore, factors such as age, post-mortem delay or gender did not show a significant effect in the levels of hybridization in the control population studied. Hybridization signals comparable to those found in the control population were obtained in frozen tissues, stored for up to 6 years before analysis. The results obtained for the different neuropeptides examined are, in general, in good agreement with the available information on their distribution and cellular localization as determined by radioimmunoassay or immunohistochemistry. The use of in situ hybridization histochemistry has clearly revealed the location of neurons synthesizing these neuropeptides, adding important information to that provided by radioimmunoassay or immunohistochemistry. A typical example is the identification of peptide synthesizing neuronal cell bodies by immunohistochemistry. This requires, in some cases, the use of treatments such as colchicine, obviously impossible with human brain tissues. The abundance of mRNA could be further related to transcriptional activity and, when compared with peptide levels, can provide some clues on peptide turnover rates. Thus in the hypothalamus, the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei were found to contain cells expressing arginine-vasopressin and oxytocin mRNAs. Their distribution was in good agreement with that determined by immunohistochemistry (Dierickx and Vandesande, 1977). We have also found that these nuclei contain transcripts for neuropeptide genes such as preproenkephalin A, neuropeptide Y and somatostatin, in agreement with previously reported immunohistochemical data (Agid and Javoy-Agid, 1985; Emson et al., 1986). In the basal ganglia, numerous cells heterogeneously distributed throughout the caudate and putamen nuclei were found to contain preproenkephalin A mRNA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:In situ hybridization histochemistry in the human hypothalamus. 148 Jul 62

1. The application of in situ hybridization histochemistry to the study of neuropeptide gene expression in human brain postmortem tissues is reviewed. We focus on neuropeptides preferentially expressed in hypothalamus and basal ganglia. 32P-labeled oligonucleotides were used as hybridization probes. 2. Autoradiography combined with computerized image analysis was used to visualize and quantify the hybridization signal. 3. Several criteria were considered in order to ascertain the specificity of the signal, including Northern analysis, use of heterologous probes, competition assays, and thermal stability of the hybrids. 4. In control human striatum high levels of hybridization signal were observed for somatostatin, neuropeptide Y, and preproenkephalin A mRNAs. In contrast, no detectable signal was observed with the cholecystokinin, arginine-vasopressin, and oxytocin probes in this area. In the hypothalamus high levels of oxytocin and arginine-vasopressin mRNAs were visualized in several nuclei. Preproenkephalin A and somatostatin mRNAs were also observed in this region, while cholecystokinin mRNA was not detected. 5. No significant correlations were found between the density of the hybridization signal and parameters such as postmortem delay, age, and gender in the population studied. 6. Finally, alterations of mRNA levels for some of these peptides were found in Parkinson's disease and Huntington's chorea striatal tissues. 7. These results show that in situ hybridization histochemistry can be used to examine at the microscopic level neuropeptide gene expression in postmortem materials.
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PMID:The use of in situ hybridization histochemistry for the study of neuropeptide gene expression in the human brain. 233 44

Neuropeptides are shown to exert a powerful influence on mnestic processes. They actively eliminate phenomena of electric-shock amnesia, the strongest agent here being arginine vasopressin, while derivatives of oxytocin, enkephalin, and melanostatin are active to a lesser degree. The selective effect on primary learning (ACTH4-7 and Leu-enkephalin) and on the consolidation and restoration of memory (vasopressin and oxytocin), and the presence of only antiamnestic properties (analog of the melanocyte-inhibiting factor) - all this suggests different mechanisms of action of these agents. Memory modulators act more strongly upon activated systems that are already prepared to receive the signal. A promising object for future study as a therapeutic antiamnestic factor is the long-term memory modulator arginine vasopressin.
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PMID:Comparative activity of memory-modulating neuropeptides before and after electric shock in white rats. 286 80

Binding of the opiate antagonists [3H]diprenorphine and [3H]naloxone and of the opioid agonists [3H]Met-enkephalin and [3H]dynorphin(1-8) was studied in a fraction of the rat neurohypophysis containing disconnected oxytocin and vasopressin nerve endings ('neurosecretosomes'). There was specific binding of [3H]diprenorphine in the fraction enriched with neurosecretosomes. This binding was only partially displaceable by naloxone; naloxone binding was stereospecific. Intact and unoxidized [3H]Met-enkephalin was found in the neurosecretosome pellet; binding of the analogue D-Ala-D-Leu-enkephalin was very low. Our data favour the assumption of a direct action of endogenous opioids at the neurosecretory nerve endings.
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PMID:Opioid binding in a rat neurohypophysial fraction enriched in oxytocin and vasopressin nerve endings. 286 4

Carboxypeptidase H is one of several enzymes required for the processing of peptide hormone precursors. In this study, inhibition of carboxypeptidase H by its peptide products was investigated. Carboxypeptidase H activity in bovine adrenal medulla chromaffin granules and rat adrenal medulla homogenate was inhibited by the peptides Met- and Leu-enkephalin, vasopressin, oxytocin, luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone, substance P, and thyrotropin-releasing hormone, with oxytocin and ACTH 1-14 having the least effect, at concentrations of 2-20 mM. Inhibition by amidated peptide products (vasopressin, oxytocin, luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone, substance P, and thyrotropin-releasing hormone) show that the final products of the precursor processing pathway can regulate carboxypeptidase H. These levels of peptides are similar to known intragranular peptide concentrations indicating that product and feedback inhibition of carboxypeptidase H may play a role in the control of neuropeptide synthesis. The proenkephalin-derived peptides Met-enkephalin, Leu-enkephalin, Met-enkephalin-Arg6-Gly7-Leu8, and Met-enkephalin-Arg6-Phe7 competitively inhibited bovine and rat carboxypeptidase H with Ki values of 12.0, 6.5, 7.0, and 5.5 mM, respectively. The significantly greater Ki for Met-enkephalin may reflect the effects of higher intragranular concentration of Met-enkephalin, since one proenkephalin molecule contains four copies of Met-enkephalin and only one copy of each of the other enkephalin peptides. Thus, the products from one multivalent precursor molecule may equivalently inhibit carboxypeptidase H activity. Product inhibition of carboxypeptidase H and perhaps other processing enzymes may serve to limit the maximum peptide concentration within the secretory vesicle.
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PMID:Product inhibition of carboxypeptidase H. 288 69

Three putative processing enzymes, each with defined action in a prohormone system, a 'pro-ocytocin-neurophysin convertase' from bovine neurohypophysis secretory granules, a 'Leu-enkephalin Arg6 generating enzyme' from human CSF and the endoprotease from the 'S-28 convertase' complex of rat brain cortex, were tested for their ability to hydrolyze peptides deriving from pro-ocytocin, pro-enkephalin B and pro-somatostatin, respectively at pairs of basic amino acids. The observations suggest that structural parameters specified by the peptide region around the dibasic moieties govern recognition by the enzyme and define which peptide bond is hydrolyzed.
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PMID:Role of peptide substrate structure in the selective processing of peptide prohormones at basic amino acid pairs by endoproteases. 289 32

Changes in brain neuropeptide content in spontaneously hypertensive rats may be primarily related to the development of hypertension or may be secondary consequences of it. We have measured brain concentrations of beta-endorphin, Leu-enkephalin, arginine vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OXT) in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) and in age-matched normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY) controls, as well as in SHRSP with normalized blood pressure by chronic treatment with clonidine. Opioid peptide contents were measured in 12-, 18- and 24-week-old rats. beta-Endorphin was measured in the neuro-intermediate and anterior lobes of the pituitary, the hypothalamus, mid-brain and brain stem; Leu-enkephalin in the neuro-intermediate lobe of the pituitary, hypothalamus, mid-brain, brain stem, as well as in the spinal cord and adrenal glands. AVP and OXT were measured in the neuro-intermediate lobe of the pituitary, hypothalamus, brain stem and spinal cord. beta-Endorphin in the neuro-intermediate lobe of the pituitary was significantly higher in 12- and 18-week-old SHRSP. Adrenal gland Leu-enkephalin was lower in SHRSP as compared with the WKY. OXT and AVP contents were markedly reduced in all brain regions of SHRSP except the neuro-intermediate lobe of the pituitary, where no significant changes were found. In no case did long-term antihypertensive treatment with clonidine reverse the altered peptide content in the SHRSP. We conclude that alterations in brain neuropeptide content in SHRSP are not secondary to hypertension. The blood pressure lowering activity of clonidine appears not to depend on major alterations of peptide concentrations. A genetic defect in the synthesis of adrenal enkephalins and hypothalamic OXT and AVP seems likely from these studies.
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PMID:Altered neuropeptide concentrations in spontaneously hypertensive rats: cause or consequence? 315 51

Rat neurointermediate lobes and neurohypophyses separated from the pars intermedia were stimulated in vitro in the presence of either D-Ala2, D-Leu5-enkephalin (DADLE), a Leu-enkephalin stable analogue or FK 33-824 a Met-enkephalin stable analogue. Secretion of vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OT) was produced by either a Ca2+-ionophore or with electrical stimulation or by K+-induced depolarization. These opioid peptides and their antagonist naloxone did not affect basal nor evoked hormone release. Furthermore, they did not affect the evoked calcium uptake induced with electrical stimulation. These findings were confirmed using a preparation of isolated neurosecretory nerve endings. Further, dopamine had no effect on the K+-induced AVP release although a crude extract of the pars intermedia abolished the electrically-evoked and reduced considerably the potassium-evoked AVP release. It is concluded that in the neurohypophysis neither Leu- and Met-enkephalin nor dopamine affect the secretion-coupling mechanism at the level of the neurosecretory nerve endings.
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PMID:Do opioid peptides modulate, at the level of the nerve endings, the release of neurohypophysial hormones? 351 53

Extracellular application of some peptides (oxytocin, Lys-vasopressin, Leu-enkephalin) to neuron RPal induced pacemaker potentials generation and initiated or increased bursting activity. Norepinephrine and prostaglandins E1 and E2 effects on neuron RPal electric activity were qualitatively similar to those produced by oxytocin and Lys-vasopressin. Dibutyryl-cAMP, papaverine (phosphodiesterase inhibitor) and sodium fluoride (nonspecific adenylate cyclase activator) induced or potentiated bursting activity. It is supposed that oxytocin, Lys-vasopressin, Leu-enkephalin, norepinephrine and E group prostaglandins effects are mediated by intracellular processes related to activation of adenylate cyclase and increase of cAMP level in the neuron.
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PMID:[Reactions of an identified edible snail neuron to application of peptides, mediators, prostaglandins, and cyclic nucleotides]. 611 55

To clarify whether various neuropeptides found in the hypothalamus act directly on a pituitary adenoma causing Nelson's syndrome, we examined the influence of these peptides on the secretion of immunoreactive ACTH, beta-endorphin, and melanotropins, the proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived peptides, by the cultured pituitary adenoma from a patient with Nelson's syndrome. Results showed that somatostatin-14 and somatostatin-28 suppressed the secretion of POMC-derived peptides by the adenoma and that somatostatin-28 was as potent as somatostatin-14. Other neuropeptides such as arginine vasopressin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, and oxytocin stimulate the secretion of POMC-derived peptides. Substance P, TRF, Met-enkephalin and Leu-enkephalin were also found to modulate the secretion of POMC-derived peptides. This suggests that the adenoma may have multiple receptors to various neuropeptides.
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PMID:Effects of various neuropeptides on the secretion of proopiomelanocortin-derived peptides by a cultured pituitary adenoma causing Nelson's syndrome. 612 87


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