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

There is evidence for an involvement of the hypothalamic paraventricular nuclei (PVN) in the regulation of pineal melatonin synthesis in rats. Since electrical stimulation of the PVN or the systemic administration of arginine-vasopressin (AVP) result in a depression of the nocturnal melatonin surge, this neuropeptide appears to be pivotal for the transduction of PVN-efferent, pinealopetal signals. We therefore used an AVP-deficient animal model, the Brattleboro rat, to further investigate the mechanisms responsible for pineal regulation. Anesthetized adult male animals received 2 min of bilateral electrical stimulation of the PVN either during the day or at night. Thirty min later, pineal glands were removed and pineal N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activities and melatonin contents were determined. Stimulation resulted neither during the day nor at night in any significant alterations of pineal NAT activity or melatonin content when compared to control or sham-stimulated animals. These data further support the proposed modulatory role of AVP for the regulation of melatonin synthesis in the Epiphysis cerebri of genetically intact rats.
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PMID:The role of the hypothalamic paraventricular nuclei for the regulation of pineal melatonin synthesis: new aspects derived from the vasopressin-deficient Brattleboro rat. 231 35

1. In order to investigate the possible involvement of arginine-vasopressin (AVP) in the inhibition of nocturnal pineal melatonin synthesis following electrical stimulation of the hypothalamic paraventricular nuclei, adult male rats received injections of 5 micrograms/100 g body weight of the peptide during either day- or night-time. Following survival times of 30 or 120 min, animals were killed and the activity of the melatonin synthesis enzyme N-acetyltransferase (NAT) was determined. 2. At night, NAT activity was significantly decreased 30 and 120 min following AVP injection. 3. During the daytime, NAT activity was unchanged following AVP administration. 4. It is suggested that pineal melatonin synthesis may be affected by PVN stimulation not only via neural pathways but possibly also by PVN-released blood-borne AVP.
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PMID:Intra-arterially administered vasopressin inhibits nocturnal pineal melatonin synthesis in the rat. 289 84

Incubation of pineal acetyl-CoA hydrolase preparations with disulfide peptides activates the enzyme. Activation of somatostatin, the most potent peptide tested, is enhanced at higher pH, indicating that disulfide exchange is probably involved. This interpretation is supported by the observation that activation is reversed by dithiothreitol treatment. The order of potency is somatostatin = [Tyr1]somatostatin greater than or equal to Tyr-somatostatin greater than vasopressin = pressinoic acid = [Arg8]vasotocin greater than oxytocin. Insulin, insulin A, insulin B, and [Asu1,6, Arg8]vasopressin were ineffective. This order of potency is distinctly different from that for the inactivation of pineal N-acetyltransferase (Namboodiri, M. A. A., Favilla, J., and Klein, D. C. (1981) Science 213, 571-573) by these peptides. Examination of the primary structure of the peptides reveals that the above order of potency is consistent with the predictions of the nearest neighbor model as applied to the disulfide group.
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PMID:Activation of pineal acetyl coenzyme A hydrolase by disulfide peptides. 612 7

In addition to the stimulating influence of the sympathetic system on the function of the mammalian pineal gland, neuropeptides such as neuropeptide Y, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and arginine-vasopressin (AVP) are thought to function as modulators. Since AVP has been shown to influence pineal melatonin synthesis, the aim of the present study was to investigate the possible effects of the second hypothalamic nonapeptide oxytocin (OT), which likewise has been detected in the pineal gland. We therefore studied "synaptic" ribbon (SR) numbers, N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activity and the intracellular concentration of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) following in vitro incubation of rat pineals in media containing OT (10(-5) M), noradrenaline (NA, 10(-5) M) or both NA and OT. Pineal glands were derived from rats of three different strains (Sprague-Dawley, Long-Evans and the AVP-deficient strain Brattleboro). Neither morphological nor biochemical analyses showed a difference between control and OT-incubated organs in any of the strains tested. In Brattleboro rats, but not in the other strains, noradrenaline slightly increased the number of SR which was not observed when NA and OT were combined. The addition of NA resulted in distinct augmentation of NAT activity and cGMP content, which were not affected by additional OT application. These results suggest that oxytocin is not crucially involved in the regulation of pineal gland function.
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PMID:Lack of effect of oxytocin on the numbers of "synaptic" ribbons, cyclic guanosine monophosphate and serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity in organ-cultured pineals of three strains of rats. 826 81

The pineal gland is innervated by pinealopetal peptidergic fibers originating in the hypothalamic nuclei which release arginine vasopressin (AVP) and arginine vasotocin (AVT) from their endings. Since the mechanism of AVT action on the pineal signal transduction and melatonin synthesis has not been determined so far, we examined the effect of AVT on the phosphoinositide signalling system and the N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activity in the rat pineal gland. The effect of AVP 4-9 fragment and AVP analogue desmopressin was also tested. The phosphoinositide signalling system was studied by measuring 32P labelling of phosphatidylinositol (PI), phosphatidylinositol phosphate (PIP) and phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate (PIP2) which reflects PI cycle activation. AVT (10(-5) and 10(-4) M) induced a significant increase in 32P labelling of PI, PIP and PIP2. The AVT mediated activation of the PI signal cascade was supressed by the vasopressin V1 receptor antagonist. The desmopressin and AVP 4-9 fragment were without the effect on PI signalling. To assess the AVT role in the melatonin synthesis we studied the daily pattern of the pineal NAT activity in rats treated by AVT (10 microg/100 g b.w). AVT application in the dark period of the day significantly increased nocturnal NAT activity. It can be summarized that AVT activates PI signalling system and potentiates NAT activity in the rat pineal gland.
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PMID:Arginine vasotocin activates phosphoinositide signal transduction system and potentiates N-acetyltransferase activity in the rat pineal gland. 1020 40