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

Primary cultures of neonatal murine brain have been reported to express multiple receptors that regulate adenylate cyclase activity. Since for the most part these results were obtained with mixed cell cultures, it has been difficult to define receptor profiles for specific cell types. With this concern in mind a series of studies has been initiated designed to identify specific receptors present on highly purified, immunocytochemically defined astroglia derived from the cerebral cortices of neonatal rats. In this study the capacity of a variety of peptide hormones to regulate cyclic AMP metabolism in these cells was examined. Fibroblasts derived from the meninges represent a predictable source of contamination in primary CNS culture. Thus, to assign more clearly specific receptors to the astroglial cell population, receptor-mediated regulation of cyclic AMP accumulation was also examined in fibroblasts. Cyclic AMP accumulation in astroglia was stimulated by catecholamines (acting at beta 1-adrenergic receptors), prostaglandin E1, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, and adrenocorticotropin. Bombesin, luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone, neurotensin, thyrotropin-releasing hormone, somatostatin, secretin, and vasopressin did not significantly increase cyclic AMP levels in these cultures. Catecholamines, acting at alpha 2-adrenergic receptors, and somatostatin inhibited agonist-stimulated cyclic AMP accumulation. In meningeal cell cultures catecholamines (acting at beta 2- and alpha 2-adrenergic receptors) and prostaglandin E1 regulated cyclic AMP levels. However, vasoactive intestinal peptide did not stimulate and somatostatin did not inhibit cyclic AMP accumulation in these cells.
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PMID:Regulation of cyclic AMP accumulation by peptide hormone receptors in immunocytochemically defined astroglial cells. 620 41

Nitric oxide synthase (NOS)-containing neurons are found in many loci throughout the central nervous system, which include the cerebral cortex, the cerebellum, the hippocampus, and the hypothalamus. NO plays a very important role in control of neuronal activity in all of these areas by diffusing into neurons where it activates soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) leading to generation of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) and cyclooxygenase 1 leading to generation of prostaglandins. Both of these active agents are involved in mediating the actions of NO, the first gaseous transmitter. In the cerebellum, NO is extremely important and it is also thought to mediate long-term potentiation in the hippocampus. Various stresses and corticoids have been shown in monkeys and also in rodents to cause neuronal cell death. This may be via the stimulation of glutamic acid release, which by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors causes release of NO, which can lead to neuronal cell death. In the hypothalamus,. NO stimulates corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), prolactin releasing factor, growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), and somatostatin, lutenizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH), but not follicle stimulating hormone-releasing factor (FSHRF) release. In situations of increased release of NO in the hypothalamus, it could cause neuronal cell death. Following bacterial or viral infections, toxic products of the ineffective agents, such as bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), circulate to the brain, where they induce interleukin-1 and iNOS mRNA and synthesis. After several hours delay, massive quantities of NO are released. Induction of iNOS occurs in the choroid plexus, meninges, in circumventricular organs, and in large numbers of iNOS neurons in the arcuate and paraventricular nuclei. The large amounts of NO released by iNOS may well produce death not only of neurons but also glial. Repeated bouts of systemic infection even without direct neural involvement could result in induction of iNOS in the central nervous system and lead to large fall out of neurons in hippocampus to impair memory, hypothalamus to decrease fever, and neuroendocrine response to infection, and could play a role in the pathogenesis of degenerative neuronal diseases of aging, such as Alzheimers. The largest induction of iNOS occurs in the anterior pituitary and pineal glands. The damage to the pituitary could also impair responses to stress and infection, and the release of NO during infection could be responsible for the degenerative changes in the pineal and diminished release of melatonin, an antioxident, and consequently, an antiaging hormone, that occur with age.
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PMID:The nitric oxide hypothesis of brain aging. 931 47

This study examined the role of the area postrema (AP) in transducing peripheral immune signals, represented by intravenous (i.v.) interleukin-1beta (IL-1), into neuroendocrine responses. The AP, a circumventricular organ with a leaky blood-brain barrier, lies adjacent to the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) in the medulla. The AP was removed by aspiration, and 2 weeks later, AP-lesioned or sham-lesioned rats were injected i.v. with 0.5 microg/kg IL-1 or sterile saline. After 30 min, brains were removed and analyzed for c-fos mRNA levels in various structures implicated in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response to peripheral cytokine challenge. The sham-lesioned animals responded to IL-1 with large elevations in adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone levels in the plasma and c-fos mRNA levels in cells of the AP, NTS, central nucleus of the amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN), and meninges. Prior AP removal abolished the IL-1 -induced increases in ACTH and corticosterone in the plasma and c-fos mRNA levels in the NTS and PVN. However, AP removal had no effect on IL-1-induced increases in c-fos mRNA levels in the other areas examined. The selective AP lesion effects suggest that the AP and adjacent NTS play a pivotal role in transducing a circulating IL-1 signal into hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation by a pathway that may be comprised of known anatomical links between the AP, NTS, and corticotropin-releasing hormone neurons of the PVN.
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PMID:Area postrema removal abolishes stimulatory effects of intravenous interleukin-1beta on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity and c-fos mRNA in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus. 974 86

A limitation of current gene therapy efforts aimed at central nervous system disorders concerns distribution of vectors on direct injection into neural tissue. Here we have circumvented this problem by transferring genes to the meninges surrounding the spinal cord, achieving an in vivo gene transfer paradigm for treating chronic pain. The therapeutic vector consisted of a recombinant adenovirus encoding a secreted form of the potent endogenous opioid beta-endorphin. In an inflammation model of persistent pain, administration of the vector into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) surrounding the spinal cord transduced meningeal pia mater cells. The resulting increase in beta-endorphin secretion attenuated inflammatory hyperalgesia, yet had no effect on basal nociceptive responses. This demonstration of a gene transfer approach to pain treatment can be generalized to neurodegenerative disorders in which broad spatial distribution of therapeutic effect is critical.
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PMID:A paracrine paradigm for in vivo gene therapy in the central nervous system: treatment of chronic pain. 1034 May 56

Mast cells derive from a distinct bone marrow precursor and mature in tissues under the influence of stem cell factor, nerve growth factor (NGF) and certain interleukins. Intracranial mast cells first appear in the meninges and are located perivascularly close to neurons. They can be activated by antidromic stimulation of the trigeminal nerve, as well as by acute immobilization stress. Substance P (SP) and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) are particularly potent in stimulating mast cell release of vasoactive, inflammatory and nociceptive molecules. These findings have suggested that mast cells may be involved in neuroinflammatory conditions, such as migraines. In this study, dura mast cells were shown to have characteristics of connective tissue mast cells (CTMC) as they contained histamine, heparin and rat mast cell protease I (RMCP-I). Mast cells were localized close to SP-positive neurons immunocytochemically and mast cell-neuron contacts were also documented using scanning electron microscopy. Dura stimulated by SP and carbachol in situ released histamine. Preincubation of dura with estradiol slightly augmented histamine release by SP, an effect possibly mediated through estrogen receptors identified on dura mast cells. Acute stress by immobilization led to dura mast cell degranulation which was prevented by pretreatment with a neutralizing antibody to CRH or a CRH receptor antagonist. The present results further clarify the biology of intracranial mast cells and support their involvement in the pathophysiology of migraines which are precipitated or worsened by stress.
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PMID:Morphological and functional demonstration of rat dura mater mast cell-neuron interactions in vitro and in vivo. 1059 82