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)

The conformation of oxytocin, the neurohypophyseal nonapeptide hormone, in solution in deuterated dimethyl sulfoxide has been determined by 1H-nmr. The structural determination is based on the experimental data set of nuclear Overhauser effect restraints. Obtained after the restrained molecular dynamics simulation on an initial structure of extended conformation, five resultant structures satisfy the experimental restraints well. These structures resemble that of the crystal structure of deamino-oxytocin, an analogue of oxytocin, in terms of a close correlation observed both at two beta-turn regions of the 20-membered tocin ring and at the tripeptide tail end. Based on this comparison and analysis of restrained molecular dynamics trajectories, we found that, although the turns are stabilized by the formation of hydrogen bonds, the oxytocin molecule possesses a slight twist in DMSO solution relative to the orientation of deamino-oxytocin in the crystalline state. Analyses of oxytocin conformation indicate that the tripeptide tail is more flexible than the tocin ring.
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PMID:Conformational properties of oxytocin in dimethyl sulfoxide solution: NMR and restrained molecular dynamics studies. 147 46

Nanosecond time-resolved tyrosinate fluorescence lifetimes were compared for oxytocin (OXT) and vasopressin (AVP) in propylene glycol. Long-lifetime tyrosinate fluorescence (LTF), characteristic of stable intramolecular hydrogen bond formation of the Tyr hydroxyl group, was present for OXT but not AVP in propylene glycol. The Tyr OH proton was also found to be labile for OXT but not AVP in DMSO by 1H-NMR. The spectroscopic data illustrate that the Tyr hydroxyl in OXT participates in an intramolecular hydrogen bond in certain receptor-simulating environments; the absence of potent LTF for [Ala5] OXT suggests that the Tyr hydroxyl of OXT forms an H-bond with the Asn5 carboxamide side-chain. The lability of the Tyr OH proton of OXT, but not AVP, is in accord with the biological activities of the peptides (OXT 100%, AVP 1%) in the rat uterus assay, suggesting that propylene glycol and DMSO mimic the environment at uterine receptors. 1H-NMR studies in DMSO demonstrate that for AVP there is a perpendicular-plate ring pairing interaction between the Tyr and Phe side-chains in which the hexagonal axis of the Tyr ring interacts with the face of the Phe ring. The present findings are discussed in terms of the proposed "cooperative model" for neurohypophysial hormone action.
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PMID:Tyrosinate fluorescence lifetimes for oxytocin and vasopressin in receptor-simulating environments: relationship to biological activity and 1H-NMR data. 217 14

Primary dissociated cultures were established from diencephalic tissue of 14-day-old fetal rats. Neurons exhibiting immunocytochemical staining for neurophysin appeared in these cultures after 6 days of cultivation. Addition of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to the culture medium resulted in a slight decrease in total neuronal cell mass as assessed by immunocytochemistry and radio-immunometric quantitation of neuron-specific enolase. In contrast, in DMSO-treated cultures the number of neurophysin-immunoreactive neurons was more than doubled as compared to control cultures. [3H]Thymidine labeling and autoradiography in conjunction with immunocytochemistry for neurophysin showed that this was not due to a mitogenic effect of DMSO on precursor cells. Time-course analysis of the action of DMSO revealed a 6-day time lag between the initiation of treatment and the appearance of increased numbers of neurophysin-immunoreactive cells. These findings suggest that DMSO, which has previously been reported to have a differentiation-inducing effect on malignant transformed cells, may also modulate cellular processes that control differentiation in specific types of neurons in primary culture.
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PMID:Developmental effect of dimethyl sulfoxide on hypothalamo-neurohypophysial neurons in vitro. 334 8

The interchange reaction of disulfides was caused by the copper(II)/ascorbic acid/O2 system. The incubation of two symmetric disulfides, L-cystinyl-bis-L-phenylalanine (PP) and L-cystinyl-bis-L-tyrosine (TT), with L-ascorbic acid and CuSO4 in potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.2, 50 mM) resulted in the formation of an asymmetric disulfide, L-cystinyl-L-phenylalanine-L-tyrosine (PT), and the final ratio of PP:PT:TT was 1:2:1. As the reaction was inhibited by catalase and DMSO only at the initial time, hydroxyl radical generated by the copper(II)/ascorbic acid/O2 system seemed to be responsible for the initiation of the reaction. Oxytocin and insulin were denatured by this system, and catalase and DMSO similarly inhibited these denaturations. As the composition of amino acids was unchanged after the reaction, hydroxyl radical was thought to cause the cleavage and/or interchange reaction of disulfides to denature the peptides.
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PMID:Interchange reaction of disulfides and denaturation of oxytocin by copper(II)/ascorbic acid/O2 system. 359 55

Disulfide bond formation in S-acetamidomethyl (Acm) cysteine-containing peptides by successive treatments with silver trifluoromethanesulfonate (AgOTf) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)/aqueous HCl is described. An S-Acm cysteine was found to be quantitatively converted into cysteine by deprotection of the Acm group with AgOTf followed by DMSO/aqueous HCl treatment. Under these reaction conditions, no significant side reactions were observed with oxidation-sensitive amino acids such as Met, Tyr and Trp. Oxytocin and a Trp-containing peptide, urotensin II, were prepared by this method. Furthermore, regioselective two disulfide bond formation was found to be feasible by the combination of air oxidation and the AgOTf-DMSO/HCl system. This strategy has been successfully applied to the syntheses of tachyplesin I and endothelin I, which have two disulfide bonds and a Trp residue in the molecule.
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PMID:Disulfide bond-forming reaction using a dimethyl sulfoxide/aqueous HCl system and its application to regioselective two disulfide bond formation. 760 3

The effect of an intra-luteal injection of the 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) inhibitor BWA4C (2 mg in 50 microl DMSO) on the secretion of oxytocin (OT) from the corpus luteum in response to a close-arterial infusion of prostaglandin (PG)-F2alpha (5 ng min(-1)) was examined in anaesthetised sheep. Within 30 minutes of administration both basal (pre-infusion) and PGF2alpha-stimulated OT release into the posterior vena cava were significantly (P<0.01) reduced. These results are consistent with the proposition that 5-LO products of arachidonic acid may modulate OT secretion from the ovine corpus luteum.
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PMID:Suppression of ovarian oxytocin secretion after intra-luteal administration of the arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor BWA4C in the ewe. 969 Jun 15

We recently discovered the existence of the oxytocin/oxytocin receptor (OT/OTR) system in the heart. Activation of cardiac OTR stimulates the release of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), which is involved in regulation of blood pressure and cell growth. Having observed elevated OT levels in the fetal and newborn heart at a stage of intense cardiomyocyte hyperplasia, we hypothesized a role for OT in cardiomyocyte differentiation. We used mouse P19 embryonic stem cells to substantiate this potential role. P19 cells give rise to the formation of cell derivatives of all germ layers. Treatment of P19 cell aggregates with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) induces differentiation to cardiomyocytes. In this work, P19 cells were allowed to aggregate from day 0 to day 4 in the presence of 0.5% DMSO, 10(-7) M OT and/or 10(-7) M OT antagonist (OTA), and then cultured in the absence of these factors until day 14. OT alone stimulated the production of beating cell colonies in all 24 independently growing cultures by day 8 of the differentiation protocol, whereas the same result was obtained in cells induced by DMSO only after 12 days. Cells induced with OT exhibited increased ANP mRNA, had abundant mitochondria (i.e., they strongly absorbed rhodamine 123), and expressed sarcomeric myosin heavy chain and dihydropyridine receptor-alpha 1, confirming a cardiomyocyte phenotype. In addition, OT as well as DMSO increased OTR protein and OTR mRNA, and OTA completely inhibited the formation of cardiomyocytes in OT- and DMSO-supplemented cultures. These results suggest that the OT/OTR system plays an important role in cardiogenesis by promoting cardiomyocyte differentiation.
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PMID:Oxytocin induces differentiation of P19 embryonic stem cells to cardiomyocytes. 1209 24

Our objective was to test the hypothesis that the cGMP signal-transduction mechanism mediates nitric oxide's (NO) modulation of oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (VP) secretion from the hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system. Three studies were conducted in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats: (1a) Euhydrated rats received an intracerebroventricular (icv) infusion (1 microl/min for 30 min) of artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF), vehicle (2.6% dimethyl sulfoxide [DMSO]) or 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo-[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ) (0.05 microg/microl), an inhibitor of soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC). ODQ did not affect basal levels of plasma VP or OT; (1b) Rats dehydrated for 24 h received aCSF or 8-Br-cGMP (icv), a membrane-permeable analog of cGMP, and plasma hormones were measured 2 min later. 8-Br-cGMP did not significantly change VP or OT levels; (2) Rats ingested water or 2% NaCl for 4 days, and NO synthase (NOS) and sGC activities were measured in posterior pituitaries, the anatomical site of hormone secretion. Salt loading enhanced (P < 0.001) production of [(14)C]citrulline, the coproduct of NO synthesis, without altering cGMP; (3) One SON was microdialyzed with [(14)C]arginine and NOS and sGC activities were quantified in microdialysates during intravenous (iv) infusion of isotonic or hypertonic saline in awake and anesthetized rats. In awake rats, [(14)C]citrulline recovery, but not cGMP, increased (P < 0.05) during intravenous infusion of both isotonic and hypertonic solutions, and after insertion of microdialysis probe itself. In anesthetized rats, however, where basal NOS activity is low, intravenous infusion of hypertonic, but not isotonic solution, increased [(14)C]citrulline recovery without affecting cGMP. Thus, in the forebrain, neither NO produced basally nor during osmotic stimulation depends on cGMP to modulate plasma vasopressin and oxytocin secretion.
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PMID:NO inhibition of the magnocellular neuroendocrine system in rats is independent of cGMP signaling pathway. 1476 77

The present study examines the effect of benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) on uterine contraction in vitro. BITC (10-320 microM) caused irreversible, concentration-dependent inhibition of the spontaneous, prostaglandin F(2alpha) (PGF(2alpha)) and oxytocin-induced force of gravid and non-gravid rat uterine contractions in contrast to equivalent concentrations of DMSO (solvent control). At 160 microM of BITC, spontaneous, PGF(2alpha) and oxytocin-induced force of gravid rat myometrial contractions were reduced to 16 +/- 6%, 15 +/- 7 % and 17 +/- 4% (of the control contractions), respectively. Moreover, at 320 microM of BITC, spontaneous, PGF(2alpha) and oxytocin-induced force of non-gravid rat uterine contractions were reduced to 10+/-5 %, 4+/-1 % and 7+/-2 % (of the control contractions), respectively. Incubation of isolated non-gravid rat uterine strips in Ringer Locke solution containing 100 microM of BITC for 1h prior to recording their activity also caused significant and irreversible depression of KCl (60mM)-induced tension development in the uterus relative to the solvent control (P < 0.01). In 56% of BITC-pretreated uterine tissues, spontaneous contractions were totally abolished. Cryosections of BITC-treated uterus (hematoxyline and eosin stained) examined under light microscope revealed structural disintegrity with marked vacuolar degeneration of the endometrium and myometrium. It thus appears that like the vascular smooth muscle (reported by previous workers), BITC is also capable of causing functional aberration of isolated uterus by provoking degeneration of the myometrium.
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PMID:Effect of benzyl isothiocyanate on spontaneous and induced force of rat uterine contraction. 1499 50

New insights into the structure-activity relationship of the peptide hormone oxytocin are presented. Incorporation of the novel cis-prolyl mimic 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (pseudoproline, PsiPro) at position 7 of the hormone yielded the analogue [Cys(Psi(Me,Me)pro)]7oxytocin (1) that showed a 92-95% induction of the cis peptide bond conformation between Cys6 and PsiPro7, as determined by one- and two-dimensional NMR spectra in water and in DMSO-d6. The impact of the dimethyl moiety regarding conformation and bioactivity was investigated by the synthesis of the corresponding dihydro compound, [Cys(Psi(H,H)pro)]7oxytocin (2). Biological tests of the uterotonic activity, the pressor activity, and the binding affinity to the rat and human oxytocin receptors were carried out. As a most significant result, no antagonistic activities were found for both the cis-constrained analogue 1 and analogue 2, suggesting that a cis conformation between residues 6 and 7 of the molecule does not result in antagonistic activity. However, the about 10-fold reduction in agonistic activity of 1 as compared to oxytocin is consistent with the reduction of the trans conformation from 90% for oxytocin to 5-8% for compound 1. Compound 1 retained a high binding affinity for the oxytocin receptor, with K(i) values of 8.0 and 1.9 nM for the rat and the human receptor, respectively. The correlation between the biological activities and the cis contents obtained from NMR analysis for compounds 1, 2, and oxytocin leads to the hypothesis that a cis/trans conformational change plays an important role in oxytocin receptor binding and activation.
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PMID:Introduction of a cis-prolyl mimic in position 7 of the peptide hormone oxytocin does not result in antagonistic activity. 1622 Sep 72


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