Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P01185 (vasopressin)
 23,126 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Spot 35 protein is a Ca-binding protein originating from the rat cerebellum; it is now referred to spot 35-calbindin. This protein is expressed in immature pituicytes of the neurohypophyseal anlage in the E11-E18 rat embryo. The gene expression of spot 35-calbindin was detected by in-situ hybridization analysis only at stage E11-E12. Profiles of spot 35-positive nerve fibers of a neurosecretory nature were found in anlage at stage E16. At this stage, some immature pituicytes are partially immunopositive for spot 35-calbindin only in their peripheral cytoplasm; others are immunonegative. At birth and thereafter through adulthood, abundant nerve fibers are the sole structures immunoreactive for spot 35-calbindin; all the pituicytes are immunonegative, resulting in a light-microscopic appearance of numerous immunonegative round profiles, corresponding to pituicytes, and capillaries embedded in the granularly immunostained neurohypophysis. The present findings suggest that, during specific embryonic stages, immature pituicytes exert some as yet unidentified roles related to Ca-mediated functions involving the expression of spot 35-calbindin.
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PMID:Transient expression of a calcium-binding protein (spot 35-calbindin) and its mRNA in the immature pituicytes of embryonic rats. 176 29

The development of vasopressin (AVP) receptors in the rat brain, spinal cord and pituitary gland was studied by in vitro light microscopic autoradiography. AVP binding sites were labeled using [3H]AVP in tissue sections from animals aged between embryonic day 12 (E12) and postnatal day 90 (PN90); the binding of [3H]AVP to oxytocin receptors was prevented by adding in the incubation medium a highly selective oxytocin agonist. Specific binding was first detected at E16 in the ventral pontine reticular formation. Many other brain areas were progressively labeled between E18 and PN5. The distribution of binding sites observed at PN5 remained unchanged until the beginning of the third postnatal week. Thereafter binding was markedly reduced or even disappeared in several areas, in particular in the facial nucleus. The adult distribution of AVP binding sites was established at the time of weaning. The properties of transient AVP binding sites in the facial nucleus were studied both by autoradiography and by electrophysiology. Non-radioactive AVP displaced [3H]AVP binding in this nucleus as efficiently as it did in the lateral septum of the adult. Single-unit extracellular recordings showed that AVP can excite facial motoneurones by interacting with receptors which are pharmacologically indistinguishable from V1 (vasopressor) type. Thus, AVP binding sites transiently expressed in the brain of fetal and infant rat probably represent functional neuronal receptors, having the same ligand selectivity and affinity than AVP binding sites present in the adult. This suggests that AVP acts not only as a neuropeptide in the adult brain but may play a significant role during maturation of the central nervous system.
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PMID:Early appearance and transient expression of vasopressin receptors in the brain of rat fetus and infant. An autoradiographical and electrophysiological study. 182 42

Oxytocin (OT)- and vasopressin (VP)-mRNAs were detected in the hypothalamus, during development, by in situ hybridization with synthetic oligonucleotide probes. The presence of VP- and OT-mRNAs was first detected in the supraoptic nucleus at E16 and E17 respectively, and simultaneously at E18 in the paraventricular nucleus. VP- (but not OT-) mRNA then appeared in the suprachiasmatic nucleus at E21, and OT- (but not VP-) mRNA, in the anterior commissural nucleus at time of birth. In the different nuclei, the relative distribution of cells containing OT- or VP-mRNA was comparable, from the earliest stages on, with that observed in the adult. These data suggest that the later appearance of mature OT (E20), versus VP (E16), reported in immunocytochemical studies, may not be due to a delayed transcription. Moreover, since the presence of both OT- and VP-prohormones has been reported at E16, the results support the idea of a rapid translation of both OT- and VP-mRNAs. In no location could OT- and VP-mRNAs be detected before final cell settlement; the possible role of environmental factors in final non-proliferative differentiation is discussed.
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PMID:Expression of the oxytocin and vasopressin genes in the rat hypothalamus during development: an in situ hybridization study. 270 68

Two anti-neurophysin monoclonal antibodies (MABs), PS 36 and PS 41, described in the preceding paper (Ben-Barak, Y, J.T. Russell, M.H. Whitnall, K. Ozato, and H. Gainer (1985) J. Neurosci. 5:000-000), allowed us to specifically stain for oxytocin-associated neurophysin (NP-OT) or vasopressin-associated neurophysin (NP-AVP) in the hypothalamus of developing rats. Staining with these MABs specific for NP-OT or NP-AVP showed that both types of neurophysin appeared in cells in the developing hypothalamus as early as embryonic day (E16) and continued to increase in immunoreactivity throughout fetal life. The literature indicated that oxytocin appears in the system between E20 and E22, much later than vasopressin (E16 to E17), which we confirmed in immunocytochemical experiments using affinity-purified antisera to these hormones. Since the MABs recognize the specific prohormones as well as the specific mature neurophysins (Ben-Barak, Y., J. T. Russell, M.H. Whitnall, K. Ozato, and H. Gainer (1985) J. Neurosci. 5: 81-97), we conclude that there is a developmental delay between the synthesis of the oxytocin prohormone (pro-oxyphysin) and its processing to form oxytocin and NP-OT. The delay in prohormone processing in the oxytocin cells was correlated with a delay in immunocytochemically detectable neurites as compared to the vasopressin cells. This reduced level of axonal and dendritic immunoreactivity was still obvious in the oxytocin cells at 9 days after birth. In contrast, the clustering of cells to form adult-like hypothalamic nuclei appeared to follow similar time courses for the two types of cells. Adult-like distributions of cells staining for NP-OT and NP-AVP were already apparent in the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei by E17.
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PMID:Neurophysin in the hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system. II. Immunocytochemical studies of the ontogeny of oxytocinergic and vasopressinergic neurons. 388 Aug 14

The development of the hypothalamic vasopressin (VP) and oxytocin (OT) systems has been studied in rats from the 16th embryonic day (E16) until the 11th postnatal day (P11). The VP and OT mRNA-producing neurons were identified on cryostat sections by in situ hybridization using oligonucleotide probes labeled by [35S], [3H] or digoxigenin. Moreover, VP and OT gene expressions were evaluated either at E21 or at P11 following chronic depletion of catecholamines (CA). For this purpose, pregnant rats were daily injected with alpha-methyl-m(p)-tyrosine from gestational day 13 to 20 while neonates were daily injected with alpha-methyl-m(p)-tyrosine and neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine from postnatal day 2 to 10. No VP mRNA- or OT mRNA-expressing cells were observed in the hypothalamus of intact fetuses at E16, while 2 days later rather numerous VP and OT neurons occupied the anterior hypothalamus. One major bilateral group of VP and OT neurons was located in the supraoptic nucleus (SON). Less numerous labeled cells were found in the developing paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Some VP and OT neurons were also spread along the ventrolateral surface of the hypothalamus from the level of the median eminence, caudally, to the level of the optic nerves, rostrally. From E18 until birth, the OT neurons were localized in the dorsal portion of the SON, while its ventral portion was occupied by the VP neurons. The VP mRNA- and OT mRNA-expressing cells seemed to increase both in size and in number over the perinatal period. Frequent relatively long neuronal processes contained VP and OT mRNAs in fetuses and in newborns. When performed during the second half of the fetal life, the chronic depletion of CA did not cause any change in the VP and OT mRNA concentrations in the SON and PVN of fetuses. By contrast, similar treatment of neonates resulted in a significant increase of both mRNA levels in the SON. These data suggest that at least in the SON VP and OT gene expression might be under the inhibitory control of CA during the neonatal period.
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PMID:Vasopressin and oxytocin gene expression in intact rats and under catecholamine deficiency during ontogenesis. 763 91

The objective of this study was to determine the schedule of the arrival of the axons from the hypothalamus to the posterior lobe of the pituitary (PL) in rats during ontogenesis by using the fluorescent lipophilic carbocyanine dye 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3', 3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI) as a retrograde tracer. After preliminary fixation of the brain, DiI crystals were implanted in the PL on embryonic day 15 (E15), E16, E17, and E19 as well as on postnatal day 2 (P2) and P9. This was followed by a DiI retrograde diffusion along the plasma membrane and subsequent staining of hypothalamic neuronal cell bodies. The supraoptic nucleus (SO) contained an accumulation of fluorescent cells that extended toward the diamond-like swelling of the third ventricle as early as E15. These data suggest that the magnocellular neurons of the SO send their axons to the PL at the very beginning of differentiation, perhaps even before reaching their final position. The initial axons of the neurons of the paraventricular nucleus proper (PV) appeared to reach the PL significantly later, at E17. In addition to the SO and the PV, accessory magnocellular nuclei contributed to the innervation of the PL in perinatal rats. The neurons of the retrochiasmatic accessory nucleus first sent their axons to the PL on E16-E17. Axons that originated from other accessory hypothalamic nuclei reached the PL after birth, suggesting a delay in their involvement in the regulation of visceral functions compared with other magnocellular nuclei. Thus, the axons of magnocellular neurons reach the PL unexpectedly early in embryogenesis, raising the possibility of the functional significance of vasopressin and oxytocin as fetal neurohormones.
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PMID:Projections from the hypothalamus to the posterior lobe in rats during ontogenesis: 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3', 3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate tracing study. 1086 10

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) is a neuropeptide which acts centrally to modulate numerous social behaviors. One receptor subtype through which these effects occur is the AVP 1a receptor (AVPR1A). The modulatory effects of Avp via the AVPR1A varies by species as well as sex, since both AVP and the AVPR1A tend to be expressed more prominently in males. Beyond these neuromodulatory effects there are also indications that the AVP system may play a role in early development to, in part, organize sex-specific neural circuitry that is important to sexually dimorphic social behaviors in adulthood. However, to date, AVP's role in early development is poorly understood, particularly with respect to its differential effect on males and females. In order to determine the timing and distribution of the AVP system in early brain development, we examined the brains of male and female C57BL/6J mice between embryonic day (E) 12.5 and postnatal day (P) 2 and quantified Avp and Avpr1a mRNA using qPCR and AVPR1A protein using receptor autoradiography. The mRNA for Avp was measurable in males and females starting at E14.5, with males producing more than females, while Avpr1a mRNA was found as early as E12.5, with no difference in expression between sexes. AVPR1A binding was observed in both sexes starting at E16.5, and while there were no observed sex differences, binding density and the number of neuroanatomical areas did increase over time. These data are significant as they provide the first whole-brain characterization of the vasopressin system in the embryonic mouse. Further, these findings are consistent with data from other species, that have documented a sex difference in the vasopressin system during early brain formation.
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PMID:Subtle sex differences in vasopressin mRNA expression in the embryonic mouse brain. 3196 93