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)

The biological actions of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) in the human myometrium during pregnancy and labor are unknown. We hypothesized that CRH may modulate the nitric oxide system, and influence myometrial relaxation/contractility. Incubation of myometrial cells with CRH, but not urocortin II or urocortin III, for 8-16 h significantly induced mRNA and protein expression of endothelial and brain but not inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoforms. This action resulted in increased activity of soluble guanylate cyclase (GC(s)), demonstrated by the enhanced cGMP-producing capacity of the NO donor, sodium nitroprusside. CRH also caused acute activation of the membrane-bound GC, shown by increased basal or atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP)-stimulated cGMP production. These effects appeared to be mediated via the R1 receptors because the CRH receptor antagonists, astressin and antalarmin but not anti-sauvagine 30, could block them. The acute effects of CRH were significantly reduced by inhibition of protein kinase A (PKA) activity, suggesting it is partially PKA dependent. Activation of protein kinase C (PKC) resulted in significant inhibition of both ANP-and CRH-stimulated cGMP production, suggesting a direct effect of PKC on membrane-bound GC. In conclusion, CRH appears to have a dual effect on myometrial NOS/GC pathway, a short term effect predominantly mediated by PKA, and a long-term effect increasing constitutive NOS expression, mediated by a PKA-independent mechanism. This mechanism could potentially be active during human pregnancy, and, because cGMP stimulates myometrial relaxation, these findings further suggest that during pregnancy CRH primarily activates intracellular signals that contribute to the maintenance of myometrial quiescence.
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PMID:Up-regulation of nitric oxide synthase and modulation of the guanylate cyclase activity by corticotropin-releasing hormone but not urocortin II or urocortin III in cultured human pregnant myometrial cells. 1185 58

The two newest members of the urocortin (UCN)/corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) family of peptides - UCN II and UCN III - bind to the CRH-2 receptor, suppress feeding, and are expressed in the periphery as well as the brain. We used several sensitive techniques to examine their interactions with the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Of the four known peptides in this family, each interacts with the BBB differently. UCN I barely enters the brain from blood unless its latent saturable influx system is activated by leptin or pretreatment with glucose. However, neither leptin nor glucose affected the entry of intact UCN II. UCN II reached brain paranchyma at a moderate rate that was not self-inhibited or cross-inhibited by UCN/CRH peptides. The apparent, but misleading, rapid influx of UCN III (stresscopin) could be explained by degradation at the BBB itself. Influx of CRH into brain was slower than UCN II but faster than UCN I; it was inhibited by excess CRH but not by excess UCN I, II, III, or leptin. CRH is the only member of this family to have a saturable efflux system out of the brain. Determination of hydrogen bonding, newly applied here to ingestive peptides, was not helpful in explaining these differential interactions of the UCN peptides with the BBB.
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PMID:Differential interactions of urocortin/corticotropin-releasing hormone peptides with the blood-brain barrier. 1206 89

CRH is known as the main stimulator of ACTH release. In representatives of all nonmammalian vertebrates, CRH has also been shown to induce TSH secretion, acting directly at the level of the pituitary. We have investigated which cell types and receptors are involved in CRH-induced TSH release in the chicken (Gallus gallus). Because a lack of CRH type 1 receptors (CRH-R1) on the chicken thyrotropes has been previously reported, two hypotheses were tested using in situ hybridization and perifusion studies: 1) TSH secretion might be induced in a paracrine way involving melanocortins from the corticotropes; and 2) thyrotropes might express another type of CRH-R. For the latter, we have cloned a partial cDNA encoding the chicken CRH-R2. Neither alpha-melanotropin (alpha-MSH) nor its powerful analog Nle4,d-Phe7-MSH could mimic the in vitro TSH-releasing effect of ovine CRH. The nonselective melanocortin receptor blocker SHU91199 did not influence CRH- or TRH-induced TSH secretion. On the other hand, we have found that thyrotropes express CRH-R2 mRNA. The involvement of this CRH receptor in the response of thyrotropes to CRH was further confirmed by the fact that TSH release was stimulated by human urocortin III, a CRH-R2-specific agonist, whereas the TSH response to CRH was completely blocked by the CRH-R blocker astressin and the CRH-R2-specific antagonist antisauvagine-30. We conclude that CRH-induced TSH secretion is mediated by CRH-R2 expressed on thyrotropes.
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PMID:Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)-induced thyrotropin release is directly mediated through CRH receptor type 2 on thyrotropes. 1297 Jan 66

Urocortin (UCN), a member of the Corticotropin-Releasing Factor (CRF) family of peptides is a well described cardioprotective agent. UCN is able to bind to two types of G-protein coupled receptors: CRF receptor type 1 (CRFR1) and CRF receptor type 2 (CRFR2), whereas, two homologues of UCN, stresscopin (SCP) or also known as urocortin III (UCNIII) and stresscopin related peptide (SRP), or urocortin II (UCNII), bind exclusively and with high affinity to CRFR2, we hypothesised that they will exhibit more pronounced cardioprotective effects than UCN. We show for the first time that SCP is expressed in rat cardiomyocytes and that the levels of SRP and SCP are increased by hypoxic stress. All three peptides have potent cardioprotective effects in cells exposed to hypoxia/reoxygenation. When used at 10(-8) M they increased the amount of live cells by 25% when added prior to hypoxia, and by 20% when UCN and SCP were added at the onset of reoxygenation. In addition, the peptides are equally are more potent antiapoptotic factors than UCN. The antiapoptotic effects of SCP were more pronounced than SRP and UCN at a concentration of 10(-10) M. Furthermore, SCP and SRP protect cardiomyocytes better than UCN at concentrations up to and including 10(-10) M and reduced the amount of TUNEL positive cells almost by half at concentrations of 10(-12) to 10(-10) M. More importantly, we demonstrate that SCP and SRP are able to protect cardiomyocytes even if they are administered after the hypoxic insult and prior to reoxygenation. In this case SCP was more potent than UCN and SRP at 10(-12) M and both SCP and SRP exhibited higher protection at 10(-8) M compared to UCN. Cardioprotection of cardiomyocytes by 10(-8) M of peptides was abolished when treated with 50 microM LY294002 or 100 microM PD98059, but not by 10 microM SB203580 prior to the hypoxic insult. Transfection of dominant negative Akt and MEK1 also blocked protection by the peptides, whereas dominant negative MEKK6 had no effects, demonstrating that SCP and SRP, like UCN, require activation of p42/44 Mitogen activated protein kinase and Akt/Protein Kinase B in order to produce their cardioprotective effects. In addition, we showed that SCP and UCN are potent activators of the p42/44 MAPK pathway, with SRP able to induce phosphorylation of p42/44 MAPK as well, albeit not as pronounced.
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PMID:Protective effects of the urocortin homologues stresscopin (SCP) and stresscopin-related peptide (SRP) against hypoxia/reoxygenation injury in rat neonatal cardiomyocytes. 1451 39

The central regulation of the food intake is organized by a long-loop mechanism involving humoral signals and afferent neuronal pathways to the hypothalamus, obligatory processing in hypothalamic neuronal circuits, and descending commands through vagal and spinal neurons to the body. Receptors sensitive to glucose metabolism, body fat reserves, distension of the stomach, as well as neuropeptide and cannabinoid receptors have been identified and localized in the hypothalamus. Five groups of cells in the hypothalamus--arcuate, paraventricular, ventromedial and dorsomedial nuclei, and the dorsolateral hypothalamic area--contain neurons with either anorexic actions (alpha-MSH, CART peptide, corticotropin-releasing hormone, urocortin III, cholecystokinin, glucagon-like peptides) or that stimulate food intake (neuropeptide Y, agouti-related peptide, orexins, melanin concentrating hormone, galanin). Intrahypothalamic neuronal circuits exist between these peptidergic neurons including the arcuate-paraventricular and arcuate-dorsolateral hypothalamic projections. Circulating substances carrying signals connected to changes in body food homeostasis and energy balance (leptin, ghrelin, insulin, glucose) enter the hypothalamus mainly through the arcuate nucleus. Neurons in the medulla oblongata that express leptin and insulin receptors, as well as neuropeptide mediators project to the hypothalamus. Vica versa, hypothalamic neurons give rise to projections to autonomic centers in the brainstem and the spinal cord with potential for stimulation or inhibition of food intake, energy balance and ingestion behavior.
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PMID:Hypothalamic regulation of food intake. 1460 50

Following its discovery 20 years ago, corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) has been postulated to mediate both hormonal and behavioural responses to stressors. Here, we characterize and describe a behavioural role for the murine gene, UcnIII, which encodes a recently discovered CRH-related neuropeptide, urocortin III. We found that mouse UcnIII is expressed predominantly in regions of the brain known to be involved in stress-related behaviours, and its expression in the hypothalamus increases following restraint. In addition, we found that intracerebroventricular administration of mUcnIII stimulates behaviours that are associated with reduced anxiety, including exploration of an open field and decreased latency to enter the lit compartment of a dark-light chamber, but has no effect on the elevated-plus maze. Finally, we found that mUcnIII does not exert any effects on the hormonal stress response. Based upon our findings, UcnIII may be an endogenous brain neuropeptide that is modulated by stress and stimulates behaviours associated with reduced anxiety. In this capacity, UcnIII may attenuate stress-related behaviours, which may be useful both to help cope with stressful situations as well as to avoid pathology associated with excessive reaction to stressors.
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PMID:Urocortin III, a brain neuropeptide of the corticotropin-releasing hormone family: modulation by stress and attenuation of some anxiety-like behaviours. 1511 34

Corticotropin releasing factor 2 receptor selective analogs of the amphibian peptide sauvagine, a member of the corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) peptide family, have therapeutic potential for the treatment of skeletal muscle atrophy. Previously, we demonstrated that [P11X12X13]Svg peptides have improved CRF2R selectivity, although not to the level of CRF2R selective hormones such as urocortin 2 and urocortin 3. Since we also demonstrated a potential for improvement in selectivity of sauvagine by modifications of residues 35 and 39, we investigated substitutions of these amino acids in selected [P11X12X13]Svg peptides. We have observed that substitution of Arg35 in sauvagine to Ala35 (the amino acid found in all CRF2R selective agonists), increased the selectivity of [P11, X12, X13]Svg analogs. In contrast, substitution of Asp39 in sauvagine to Ala39 (also the amino acid found in all CRF2R selective agonists) did not further increase the selectivity of [P11, X12, X13, A35]Svg analogs. Thus, the residues 35 along with 11, 12, and 13 in sauvagine represent important sites for improving CRF2R selectivity.
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PMID:Sauvagine analogs selective for corticotropin releasing factor 2 receptor: effect of substitutions at positions 35 and 39 on CRF2R selectivity. 1580 19

Peptides of the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) family are expressed throughout the central nervous system (CNS) and in peripheral tissues where they play diverse roles in physiology, behavior, and development. Current data supports the existence of four paralogous genes in vertebrates that encode CRF, urocortin/urotensin 1, urocortin 2 or urocortin 3. Corticotropin-releasing factor is the major hypophysiotropin for adrenocorticotropin, and also functions as a thyrotropin-releasing factor in non-mammalian species. In the CNS, CRF peptides function as neurotransmitters/neuromodulators. Recent work shows that CRF peptides are also expressed at diverse sites outside of the CNS in mammals, and we found widespread expression of CRF and urocortins, CRF receptors and CRF binding protein (CRF-BP) genes in the frog Xenopus laevis. The functions of CRF peptides expressed in the periphery in non-mammalian species are largely unexplored. We recently found that CRF acts as a cytoprotective agent in the X. laevis tadpole tail, and that the CRF-BP can block CRF action and hasten tail muscle cell death. The expression of the CRF-BP is strongly upregulated in the tadpole tail at metamorphic climax where it may neutralize CRF bioactivity, thus promoting tail resorption. Corticotropin-releasing factor and urocortins are also known to be cytoprotective in mammalian cells. Thus, CRF peptides may play diverse roles in physiology and development, and these functions likely arose early in vertebrate evolution.
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PMID:Widespread tissue distribution and diverse functions of corticotropin-releasing factor and related peptides. 1641 23

Central injection of Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ (N/OFQ), inhibits the anorectic effect of corticotropin-relasing factor (CRF) and stress in rats. Recently, Urocortin II (Ucn II) and Urocortin III (Ucn III), two selective CRF(2) receptor agonists, have been identified. Here, we investigated the effect of intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of 0.25, 0.75, 1.50 or 3 nmol/rat of Ucn II or Ucn III on food and water intake in food deprived rats. The effect of N/OFQ on Ucn II and UCNIII-induced anorexia was also studied. Results showed a greater inhibition of food consumption by Ucn II than Ucn III. Pretreatment with N/OFQ (0.25-2.0 nmol/rat) did not block the effects of Ucn II and UCNIII. Conversely, injection of N/OFQ (0.25-2.0 nmol/rat) blocked the anorectic effect of CRF (0.1 nmol/rat). These findings suggest that N/OFQ selectively prevent the anorectic effect mediated by activation of the CRF(1) receptor system.
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PMID:Activation of the nociceptin/orphanin FQ system is unable to reverse CRF2 receptor mediated anorexia in the rat. 1705 37

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is considered to be a main adrenocorticotropin-releasing factor in vertebrates. In non-mammalian species, CRF and related peptides cause the release of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) from the anterior pituitary. The actions of CRF peptides are mediated by two G protein coupled receptors (CRF1 and CRF2) that have different ligand specificities. Using ligands that bind preferentially or selectively to the CRF2 we tested the hypothesis that TSH release by the amphibian pituitary gland is mediated by the CRF2. Injection of frog CRF, urocortin 1 or the CRF2-specific ligand urocortin 3 all produced significant, acute increases (by 2 h) in plasma thyroxine concentration in prometamorphic tadpoles. Chronic injections of CRF peptides accelerated tadpole metamorphosis, and the peptides with the highest affinity for the CRF2 (urocortin 1 and sauvagine) had the greatest potency. Ligands selective for the CRF2 (frog urocortin 3, mouse urocortins 2 and 3) all accelerated tadpole metamorphosis. We then tested frog urocortins 1 and 3, mouse urocortin 2 and sauvagine for their TSH-releasing activity using dispersed frog anterior pituitary cells in culture. All of the peptides tested markedly enhanced the release of TSH. Secretagogue-induced TSH release was completely blocked by the general CRF receptor antagonist astressin or the CRF2-specific antagonist antisauvagine-30. Conversely, the type 1 CRF receptor-specific antagonist antalarmin had no effect on TSH secretion. Our results support the hypothesis that CRF-induced TSH release by the amphibian pituitary gland is mediated by the CRF2.
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PMID:Involvement of the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) type 2 receptor in CRF-induced thyrotropin release by the amphibian pituitary gland. 1718 89


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