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)

The discovery of immediate early genes (IEG) has provided neuroscientists with a new functional mapping technique. Labelling of neural tissue for the protein product of IEG provides an activity map with single-cell resolution. When combined with labelling for the chemical identity of the neuron, this provides a powerful tool for the investigation of specific cell populations along a neuraxis. Here we describe in detail a method which allows simultaneous bright-field visualization of neurochemically identified cells displaying increased IEG expression. This technique is evaluated in tissue from rats subjected to stimuli known to induce the expression of the IEG c-fos in various medullary catecholaminergic and hypothalamic neurosecretory cell groups. A 2-colour immunoperoxidase technique was used to visualize Fos, the nuclear protein product of c-fos, and the cytoplasmic antigens tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), phenylethanolamine N-methyl transferase (PNMT), oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (VP). This involved simultaneous application of primary antibodies raised in different species followed by sequential application of appropriate biotinylated secondary antibodies and the avidin-biotin-peroxidase technique. Fos was visualized with nickel-intensified diaminobenzidine (Ni-DAB) in the first sequence while TH, PNMT, OT or VP were visualized with DAB alone, resulting in readily distinguishable black and amber reaction products, respectively. This dual immunoperoxidase technique is time saving compared to techniques using sequential application of primary antibodies and avoids the disadvantages associated with fluorescence techniques.
 ...
PMID:Neurochemical identification of fos-positive neurons using two-colour immunoperoxidase staining. 810 Jun

Transcriptional regulation of the oxytocin and oxytocin receptor genes underly to a large degree the highly specific and often transient physiologies associated with this peptide hormone system. Using a variety of homologous transcription assays we have endeavoured to identify and characterize the cis and trans elements responsible for the regulation in vivo of the oxytocin peptide gene and the gene for the oxytocin receptor. The bovine ovarian granulosa cell model is a primary culture system where under stimulation by insulin or IGF-I and LH the endogenous oxytocin gene is massively upregulated. We have identified a proximal response element at -160, which in vivo binds the competing nuclear receptors, SF1 and COUP-TF. Additionally ovarian specific transcription factors bind at two additional sites in the distal promoter region. For the bovine oxytocin receptor gene, we have taken advantage of the high endogenous expression of the receptor in the endometrium of the estrous cycle. Using a combination of primary cell culture techniques and in vitro binding of nuclear protein extracts from tissues expressing the receptor in vivo, we have shown there to be a combination of constitutive and inhibitory elements controlling oxytocin receptor gene expression. Similar results were obtained for the human oxytocin receptor gene. At birth there may additionally be a specific stimulatory effect on transcription in the myometrium.
 ...
PMID:The molecular basis of oxytocin and oxytocin receptor gene expression in reproductive tissues. 1002 17

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene have been associated with obesity in humans. Alterations in Fto expression in transgenic animals affect body weight, energy expenditure and food intake. Fto, a nuclear protein and proposed transcription co-factor, has been speculated to affect energy balance through a functional relationship with specific genes encoding feeding-related peptides. Herein, we employed double immunohistochemistry and showed that the majority of neurons synthesizing a satiety mediator, oxytocin, coexpress Fto in the brain of male and female mice. We then overexpressed Fto in a murine hypothalamic cell line and, using qPCR, detected a 50% increase in the level of oxytocin mRNA. Expression levels of several other feeding-related genes, including neuropeptide Y (NPY) and Agouti-related protein (AgRP), were unaffected by the FTO transfection. Addition of 10 and 100 nmol oxytocin to the cell culture medium did not affect Fto expression in hypothalamic cells. We conclude that Fto, a proposed transcription co-factor, influences expression of the gene encoding a satiety mediator, oxytocin.
 ...
PMID:Fto colocalizes with a satiety mediator oxytocin in the brain and upregulates oxytocin gene expression. 2151 76