Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P01189 (beta-endorphin)
 21,003 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In addition to reconstituting immune competence, the thymus gland preparation, thymosin fraction 5 (TSN-5), has recently been shown to stimulate secretion of hormones from the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis in vivo and from pituitary corticotropes in vitro. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of TSN-5 on secretion of immunoreactive beta-endorphin (i beta-E) by mouse corticotropic tumor cells. The release of i beta-E by AtT-20 pituitary tumor cells was increased in a dose-dependent manner by concentrations of 30-600 micrograms/ml of TSN-5, whereas concentrations greater than 1,000 micrograms/ml were increasingly less effective in stimulating secretion. TSN-5 (600 micrograms/ml) significantly stimulated i beta-E release within 7 min; maximal secretory responses (up to 275% of control release) occurred by 4 hr. The secretory response of AtT-20 cells to 600 micrograms/ml TSN-5 (37.9 +/- 2.0 vs. 16.1 +/- 1.0 ng i beta-E/ml/4 hr, mean +/- SE) was similar in magnitude to release evoked by 0.1 microM corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF). Combining TSN-5 and CRF treatments increased secretion of i beta-E to nearly 600% of control levels, an effect greater than an additive influence of the two independent treatments. Whereas CRF treatment reduced the levels of i beta-E in AtT-20 cell extracts after 24-hr treatment by 45% (231.8 +/- 24.7 vs. 417.2 +/- 17.8 ng i beta-E/mg protein, CRF vs. vehicle treatments, respectively), TSN-5 did not significantly alter cellular hormone content. Neither TSN-alpha 1 nor TSN-beta 4, two of the component peptides of TSN-5, affected basal or CRF-stimulated release of i beta-E, indicating that an unidentified constituent(s) is corticotropic.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:Thymosin fraction 5 stimulates secretion of immunoreactive beta-endorphin in mouse corticotropic tumor cells. 296 Aug 24

A neuroendocrine carcinoma of the thymus with an ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) syndrome and melanocytic differentiation is described. ACTH, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and S-100 protein were identified in the tumor by immunocytochemistry. Neurosecretory granules and melanosomes could be demonstrated in different cell populations by electronmicroscopy. The clinicopathologic findings are presented. The literature is briefly discussed.
 ...
PMID:Melanocytic neuroendocrine carcinoma of the thymus. 302 5

Products derived from the activated immune system have been reported to modulate neuroendocrine function. In addition, a direct connection between neuroendocrine and immune responses to stress has recently been proposed. We now provide evidence that heterogeneous lymphokine-containing supernatants from mitogen-stimulated rat spleen cells can stimulate both basal and corticotropin-induced corticosterone secretion from rat adrenal cells in an in vitro perifusion system. Moreover, thymosin alpha 1, a 28-amino acid residue peptide found both in thymus and lymphocyte-derived supernatants was also able to synergistically stimulate corticotropin-stimulated corticosterone release, without affecting basal corticosterone output in this same in vitro adrenal cell perifusion system. These results reinforce the suggestion about the existence of bidirectional interactions between the immune and neuroendocrine systems. They also indicate that this communication may occur directly at the adrenal gland level, a major effector site of the body's response to stress.
 ...
PMID:Corticosterone-releasing activity of immune mediators. 302 27

Prior studies have demonstrated that intensive treatment with high doses of methylprednisolone (MP) can beneficially affect the acutely injured central nervous system by a variety of mechanisms and promote neurological recovery in experimentally injured animals. In view of the fact that these actions are associated only with MP doses greatly in excess of those required for classical glucocorticoid receptor-mediated actions of the steroid, the possibility was examined that this high-dose pharmacology of MP could be duplicated by a nonglucocorticoid analog. Accordingly, U-72099E (17,21-dihydroxy-11 alpha-t-butylacetoxy-1,4-pregnadiene-3,20-dione- 21-hemisuccinate, sodium salt) was synthesized and tested for its ability to duplicate the high-dose effects of MP in a concussive head injury model in mice and in an in vitro model of lipid peroxidation-induced membrane damage using rat brain synaptosomes. The absence of glucocorticoid-related activity of U-72099E was confirmed by its inability to either suppress body weight gain or cause thymic involution in mice treated with doses up to 100 mg/kg/day for 4 days. On the other hand, MP at 30 mg/kg/day for 4 days caused a complete inhibition of body weight gain and a 43.5% reduction in thymus weight. Moreover, U-72099E, at concentrations of 10(-5) M or lower, failed to suppress adrenocorticotropin secretion by mouse AtT-20 pituitary cells in culture, whereas dexamethasone or MP at concentrations of 10(-6) M and lower caused a marked suppression in adrenocorticotropin secretion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:A nonglucocorticoid steroid analog of methylprednisolone duplicates its high-dose pharmacology in models of central nervous system trauma and neuronal membrane damage. 303 7

The material presented here summarizes the bulk of the presently available immunologic data bearing upon the in vivo relationship between brown adipose tissue and the immune system. The experiments were carried out in rats adipectomized (by surgical excision of the interscapular brown adipose tissue at birth), thymectomized (by neonatal removal of the thymus), adipectomized and thymectomized, and corresponding sham-operated controls. The following immune phenomena were studied: antibody production to soluble and corpuscular antigens; Arthus and delayed hypersensitivity skin reactions to bovine serum albumin; rejection of allogeneic skin and thyroid grafts; lymph node enlargement in a host-versus-graft reaction; experimental allergic encephalomyelitis and thyroiditis; immune response in normal animals treated with extracts from brown adipose tissue; allergic encephalomyelitis in thymoadipectomized animals; plaque-forming cell response and hemagglutinating antibody titers in animals injected with met-enkephalin and leu-enkephalin; and survival rate of adipectomized mice inoculated with Sarcoma-I cells. The results indicated that the cell-mediated immune reactions were potentiated in adipectomized rats. Antibody production was not significantly changed by neonatal adipectomy. Adipectomized mice, inoculated with Sa-I tumor cells, survived longer than controls, thus indicating that adipectomy made possible the recognition of discrete histocompatible differences between Sa-I cells and A/JAX mice. Adipectomy increased the ability of rats to develop autoimmune diseases. Saline extracts from brown adipose tissue of newborn rats suppressed hypersensitivity skin reactions in normal adult rats. Thymoadipectomized rats showed an almost normal ability to develop allergic encephalomyelitis, a finding that suggested that the potentiating influence of adipectomy on encephalomyelitis was neutralized by thymectomy. It appears that brown adipose tissue functions as a natural antagonist of the thymus. Enkephalins were found to be more effective immunosuppressors in adipectomized than in normal animals. The last finding establishes a functional link between brown adipose tissue and neuropeptides. It seems that the potentiation of immune response in adipectomized animals is effected by altered release of yet unidentified mediators and modulators. The evidence indicates that brown adipose tissue, in which neurohumoral activity occurs, may be an important component of an integrated immunoneuroendocrine system.
 ...
PMID:Brown adipose tissue. Its in vivo immunology and involvement in neuroimmunomodulation. 330 Apr 71

Rebound thymic hyperplasia has been described in children and young adults after recovery from stress. Similar thymic enlargement has been observed in patients after remission of Cushing's syndrome. In one patient successfully treated for ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) syndrome by resection of a bronchial carcinoid with a hilar metastasis, the postoperative enlarging mediastinal mass suggested recurrent tumor. In another patient treated for an undetected ectopic ACTH source by a cortisol antagonist, the enlarging thymus could be confused with a thymic carcinoid. The typical thymic appearance on CT and the chronologic relation to declining cortisol levels should prevent such diagnostic errors.
 ...
PMID:Rebound thymic hyperplasia after treatment of Cushing's syndrome. 349 Jul 48

Body, thymus, and spleen weights, and cellular makeup of lymphoid tissues of rat were not affected to a great extent by intraperitoneal injections of met-enkephalin, leu-enkephalin, or naloxone. However, enkephalins induced a diminution of peripheral blood leukocytes and lymphocytes. In addition, met-enkephalin depleted the population of T4 helper/inducer lymphocytes. On the other hand, there was an increase of blood leukocytes and lymphocytes in naloxone-treated animals. Arthus and delayed skin hypersensitivity reactions to bovine serum albumin and old tuberculin were sharply reduced in enkephalin-treated rats. Rejection of allogenic thyroid graft implanted under the renal capsule was considerably delayed by repeated injections of enkephalins. Mesenteric mast cell degranulation in rats sensitized to ovalbumin and injected with a shocking dose of antigen was less pronounced after treatment with enkephalins. These results show that enkephalins, in dosage levels of 5 mg/kg b.w., exert a suppressive influence on cell-mediated immune reactions. Other experiments from our laboratory, reported in a companion paper in this volume, suggest that much lower doses may have opposite (immunoenhancing) effects.
 ...
PMID:Enkephalins and immunity. II: In vivo modulation of cell-mediated immunity. 349 23

The distribution of enkephalin, an endogenous opioid, in tissues and cells of the developing and adult rat was determined by immunocytochemistry with antibodies to met- and leu-enkephalin. Met- and leu-enkephalin were found in all developing cells investigated, with staining generally located throughout the cytoplasm; cell nuclei were not immunoreactive. In comparison to developing cells, immunoreactive analogues to met-enkephalin were usually difficult to detect in the adult. Some notable exceptions were reaction products in leukocytes in blood, lung, and cortex of thymus, fibroblasts in the skin, and seminiferous tubules. These results, in concert with earlier reports that opioid receptors are found largely in developing, but not adult, tissues, indicate that endogenous opioids are specifically involved in biological development, particularly cell proliferation and differentiation. Immunoreactivity in adult non-neural cells may be related to their development in some cases, but also could indicate other functions.
 ...
PMID:Localization of enkephalin immunoreactivity in diverse tissues and cells of the developing and adult rat. 353 53

The role of endogenous opioid systems in preweaning development after intrauterine exposure to X-irradiation or ethylnitrosourea (ENU) was explored in rats using naltrexone, a potent antagonist of beta-endorphin. After daily s.c. injections of 50 mg/kg naltrexone only the prenatally untreated controls had body weights increased by 11% from control level on day 28 (weaning). In the X-irradiated as well as the ENU-treated pups no significant effects of naltrexone on body weight gain were observed. However, brain weight increased in all animals under the influence of naltrexone, irrespective of prenatal treatment or the severity of brain lesions: 9.5% above control values in untreated offspring and 14% after X-irradiation (1 Gy) on gestation day 14. The brain weight of ENU-treated rats (50 mg/kg on gest. day 14) was 13% higher after postnatal naltrexone application than that of their postnatally untreated counterparts. ENU (80 mg/kg) effects on the brain when given on gestation day 18 were ameliorated to 9.2% by naltrexone in the weaning period. Naltrexone significantly increased the thymus weight in controls. Prenatally treated animals also showed an increased thymus weight at weaning, presumably due to compensatory growth. In these cases naltrexone revealed a suppressive effect on the thymus, whereas spleen weight was apparently not influenced by naltrexone treatment. These results provide compelling evidence that endogenous opioid systems play a crucial role not only in normal development, but also in reparative growth events of the brain after prenatal injuries. The thymus, predominantly containing T-lymphocytes, seems to represent another sensitive system which is regulated under the influence of opioids.
 ...
PMID:Effects of naltrexone in postnatal rats on the recovery of disturbed brain and lymphatic tissues after X-irradiation or ethylnitrosourea treatment in utero. 356 9

Carcinoid tumors of the thymus gland have occasionally been associated with endocrine hyperfunction. A case of thymic carcinoid was initially observed as Cushing's syndrome and was also associated with marked hyperpigmentation. While the hyperpigmentation may be related to the excessively high levels of corticotropin, it is also possible that thymic carcinoids could produce melanocyte-stimulating hormone-like (or beta-lipotropin) material.
 ...
PMID:Thymic carcinoid with cutaneous hyperpigmentation. 397


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>