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)

Retinoblastoma protein (RB) is a tumor suppressor gene product involved in embryogenesis and cell cycle progression. One of the major mechanisms leading to RB dysfunction is complex formation with viral oncoproteins using the common RB binding motif Leu X Cys X Glu (LXCXE) which has also been identified in cellular ligands, e.g., RBP-1 and RBP-2. p107, a cellular protein with RB sequence homology, has been shown to bind to the same viral oncoproteins associating with RB and is therefore thought to contribute to cell cycle regulation. It has recently been suggested that insulin stimulates gene transcription through direct association with an, as yet, unidentified intracellular transcription factor. Due to the central roles of RB and p107 in coupling external growth signals with the progression of the cell cycle clock, we have hypothesized that these two proteins might be candidates for mediating the effects of insulin on DNA. We report here the identification of a region in the B-chain of human insulin that has the sequence LXCXE. Based on this finding we predict that the insulin B-chain may interact with RB and/or p107. Since we have also identified sequences hydropathically related to LXCXE in insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and II (IGF-II), but not in relaxin, nerve growth factor, epidermal growth factor, glucagon or beta-endorphin, we further propose that both IGF-I and -II may assemble with RB and/or p107, too. Moreover, binding sites on RB and p107 identical with those suggested for viral oncoproteins and cellular ligands are predicted for insulin/IGF-I/IGF-II by using the hydropathic complementarity approach.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Proposed interaction between insulin and retinoblastoma protein. 133 81

Chromaffin granules, the secretory organelles of the neuron-like adrenal medullary chromaffin cells, have previously been shown to store and liberate neurotrophic activities that support in vitro survival of several neuron populations including those innervating the adrenal medulla. Molecules resembling fibroblast growth factor and ciliary neurotrophic factor have been identified among these activities. Since chromaffin granules store a variety of neuropeptides and many neuropeptides can have pleiotropic effects on neuronal growth and maintenance we have tested 24 different neuropeptides for their capacities to promote survival of embryonic chick ciliary, dorsal root and sympathetic ganglionic neurons. Peptides tested included several derivatives of proenkephalin (Leu- and met-enkephalin, fragments BAM 22, B, F and E), somatostatin, substance P, neuropeptide Y, neurotensin, VIP, bombesin, secretin, pancreastatin, dynorphin B, dynorphin 1-13, beta-endorphin, alpha-, beta-, and gamma-MSH. Control cultures received saturating concentrations of ciliary neurotrophic or nerve growth factor (CNTF; NGF), or no trophic supplements. At 1 x 10(-5) M leu- and met-enkephalin as well as somatostatin supported sympathetic neurons to the same extent as NGF. At the same concentrations, leu-enkephalin, the proenkephalin fragments BAM 22 and E, and somatostatin maintained about half of the dorsal root ganglionic neurons supported by NGF, but were not effective on ciliary neurons. VIP promoted the survival of approximately 50% of the ciliary and embryonic day 10 dorsal root ganglionic neurons as compared to saturating amounts of CNTF, but required the presence of non-neuronal cells in the cultures to be effective. Neurotensin (1 x 10(-5) M had a small effect on ciliary neurons.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Screening of adrenal medullary neuropeptides for putative neurotrophic effects. 163 76

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether neurochemicals normally found within neuron somata, fibers, and terminals of the hippocampal formation would also be present in transplanted hippocampal tissue that had developed in lesion cavities made in adult rat brains by aspiration of the hippocampus and overlying dorsolateral neocortex. Embryonic Day 15 or 16 rat brian tissue containing hippocampus with some medial pallial anlage was transplanted into the site of hippocampal aspiration lesions in adult male rats. One hundred ten to one hundred thirty-five days later the brains of these rats were sectioned and processed using the avidin-biotin-horseradish peroxidase immunocytochemical procedure to visualize choline acetyltransferase, met-enkephalin (MENK), neurotensin (NT), somatostatin, substance P, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), or vasoactive intestinal polypeptide. Sections from two brains were stained using the thiocholine technique for visualization of acetylcholinesterase. All of these substances were found within cell bodies and/or fibers in the transplants. However, several abnormalities were noted. In addition to TH-immunoreactive fibers, TH-immunoreactive cell bodies were found in the transplants. Since TH is not expressed in mature hippocampal or cortical neurons this suggests that mechanisms for suppression of manufacture of this enzyme are lacking or inhibited in the transplants. Further, although all of the peptides were present either in fibers or in both cell bodies and fibers, the density of staining for NT and MENK was less than would be expected for normal hippocampus, and none of the cell bodies or fibers reacting for the peptides exhibited any apparent organization resembling that normally observed in hippocampus or cortex. However, some histological organization was present and the cholinergic markers were associated with this organization. These data suggest that some tropic and/or trophic factor such as nerve growth factor is present in the transplants to guide cholinergic innervation.
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PMID:Neurochemical anatomy of fetal hippocampus transplanted into large lesion cavities made in the adult rat brain. 170 34

We investigated the role of neuropeptides and adrenergic agonists in the regulation of intracellular 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cyclic AMP) contents in cultured Schwann cells from sciatic nerve of neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats. Of the neuropeptides examined, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and secretin markedly stimulated the accumulation of intracellular cyclic AMP in a time- and dose-dependent manner with half maximum at 3 and 12 min, and 2.8 X 10(-5) and 5.0 X 10(-5) M, respectively. While somatostatin, substance P, adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), beta-endorphin, and nerve growth factor (NGF) did not show any effect on cyclic AMP metabolism, isoproterenol (IP), norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (E) also markedly elevated the Schwann cell cyclic AMP concentration. The rank-order of potency of these adrenergic catecholamines on cyclic AMP accumulation was isoproterenol greater than norepinephrine greater than epinephrine. Simultaneous addition of VIP or secretin to the Schwann cell culture synergistically enhanced the norepinephrine-induced elevation of intracellular cyclic AMP. The effect of norepinephrine was antagonized by a selective beta 1-adrenergic antagonist but not by beta 2- nor alpha-adrenergic antagonists. These results suggest that VIP, secretin, and beta 1-adrenergic agonists alone or synergistically may play a part in the regulation of metabolism of Schwann cells mediated through a cyclic AMP-dependent mechanism.
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PMID:Peptidergic and adrenergic regulation of the intracellular 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate content in cultured rat Schwann cells. 285 16

A synthetic nonapeptide fragment of thrombin inhibits the cellular motility in culture of a human melanoma subclone that possesses a high metastatic potential in mice. Concomitant with the loss of ability to translocate in culture, these cells exhibit increases in the average length of actin cables and cellular surface area in contact with the substratum. The spreading activity is observed at a nonapeptide concentration of 1 nM within 1 hr of exposure at 37 degrees C. Pretreatment of cells with this nonapeptide does not block signal transduction through plasma membrane receptors for the following growth or differentiation factors: alpha-melanotropin (alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone), nerve growth factor, and transforming growth factor type beta. Results of the present study suggest an approach to cancer chemotherapy in which naturally occurring peptides from two functionally orthogonal classes may be used to perform two complementary functions: inhibition of metastasis and induction of differentiation.
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PMID:Identification of a synthetic nonapeptide sequence that inhibits motility in culture of a melanoma subclone that possesses a high metastatic potential. 348 May 26

In the brain of adult specimens of the tobacco hornworm moth, Manduca sexta (L), cells immunoreactive for several kinds of neuropeptides were localized by means of the PAP procedure, by use of antisera raised against mammalian hormones or hormonal peptides. In contrast, no such neurosecretory cells were found in the corpora cardiaca and corpora allata (CC/CA); in the CC/CA, however, immunoreactive nerve fibres were observed, reaching these organs from the brain. The neurosecretory cells found in the brain were immunoreactive with at least one of the following mammalian antisera, namely those raised against the insulin B-chain, somatostatin, glucagon C-terminal, glucagon N-terminal, pancreatic polypeptide (PP), secretin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP), gastrin C-terminus, enkephalin, alpha- and beta-endorphin, Substance P, and calcitonin. No cells were immunoreactive with antisera specific for detecting neurons containing the insulin A-chain, nerve growth factor, epidermal growth factor, insulin connecting peptide (C-peptide), polypeptide YY (PYY), gastrin mid-portion (sequence 6-13), cholecystokinin (CCK) mid-portion (sequences 9-20 and 9-25), neurotensin C-terminus, bombesin, motilin, ACTH, or serotonin. All the neuropeptide-immunoreactive cells observed emitted nerve fibers passing through the brain to the CC and in some cases also to the CA. In CC these immunoreactive nerve fibers tended to accumulate near the aorta. It was speculated that neuropeptides are released into the circulating haemolymph and act as neurohormones.
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PMID:Immunohistochemical investigations of neuropeptides in the brain, corpora cardiaca, and corpora allata of an adult lepidopteran insect, Manduca sexta (L). 613 31

Tonin, an esteroprotease isolated from rat submaxillary gland, is a serine protease with trypsin- and chymotrypsin-like activity. The substrate specificity of tonin shows that it differs from kallikreins and is definitely not a renin-like enzyme or an angiotensin-converting enzyme. Tonin can produce directly the vasoactive peptide angiotensin II, from angiotensin I, angiotensinogen and the synthetic tetradecapeptide substrate of renin by cleavage of a Phe-His bond. It has also been found to cleave some Phe and Arg bonds in various substrates such as beta-lipotropin (beta-LPH), adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) and substance P. Here we describe the complete amino acid sequence of rat submaxillary gland, tonin. Comparison of the sequence of 219 amino acids with other serine proteases, particularly kallikreins, gamma-subunit of nerve growth factor (NGF) and the recently described gamma-renin, reveals extensive similarities. More interestingly, it also reveals the substitution of an Asp residue always found in the serine protease active site triad (Asp, His, Ser) by a Leu residue. This unusual substitution does not seem to affect the proteolytic activity of the enzyme.
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PMID:Amino acid sequence of rat submaxillary tonin reveals similarities to serine proteases. 632 14

Peptides are of potential interest in the field of gene therapy but require modification by genetic engineering to facilitate their secretion. Amino terminal addition of a signal peptide is not always sufficient to achieve this goal, as found in this study for beta-endorphin. To overcome this problem, addition of the pre-pro-sequence of mouse nerve growth factor to beta-endorphin was tested. Retrovirus-mediated expression of a hybrid construct of the pre-pro-sequence of nerve growth factor and human beta-endorphin in primary fibroblasts resulted in the secretion of beta-endorphin immunoreactivity at a rate of 620 pg/h/10(6) cells. Analysis of the secreted beta-endorphin immunoreactivity with reverse-phase HPLC, immunoassays using three different antibodies, and an assay for the specific displacement of [3H][D-Ala2,N-MePhe4,Gly-ol5]enkephalin from mu-opioid receptors suggests that the pre-pro-sequence is cleaved off from the pre-pro-sequence/beta-endorphin construct prior to secretion, resulting in bona fide beta-endorphin. Transplantation of beta-endorphin-secreting cells into brain or spinal cord may provide a gene therapy approach for the treatment of chronic, opioid-sensitive pain states.
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PMID:Retrovirus-mediated expression of an artificial beta-endorphin precursor in primary fibroblasts. 783 38

A pheochromocytoma from a 59-year-old woman was found to be immunoreactive to adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), chromogranin, neurofilament-200, neuron-specific enolase and S-100 protein. Northern blot analysis showed that both proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) genes were expressed in the pheochromocytoma but not in the surrounding adrenal cortex. In primary culture, the POMC and CRH mRNAs were increased by dexamethasone (500 micrograms/l for 3 days) up to 10- and 15-fold of the control, respectively. The secretion of ACTH also was stimulated eightfold with the same treatment. The stimulatory effect of dexamethasone on POMC gene expression was inhibited 70% by nerve growth factor (NGF, 200 micrograms/l), 30% by 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate (TPA, 160 nmol/l) (a protein kinase-C activator) and 30% by (Bu)2cAMP (1 mmol/l). On the other hand, NGF alone increased the CRH mRNA accumulation up to 10-fold, and further enhanced the stimulatory effect of dexamethasone on the CRH mRNA twofold, and TPA inhibited (30%) the dexamethasone-induced CRH mRNA accumulation. Furthermore, the conditioned medium of the pheochromocytoma cells increased secretion of corticosterone fourfold in the primary culture of rat fetal adrenal cells. Our results indicate abnormal expression and regulation of POMC and CRH genes in this pheochromocytoma.
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PMID:Pheochromocytoma expressing adrenocorticotropin and corticotropin-releasing hormone; regulation by glucocorticoids and nerve growth factor. 792 Dec 4

One of the functions of glial receptors is to regulate synthesis and release of a variety of neuropeptides and growth factor peptides, which in turn act on neurons or other glia. Because of the potential importance of these interactions in injured brain, we have examined the role of two different receptors in the regulation of astrocyte neuropeptide synthesis. Stimulation of beta-adrenergic receptors on type 1 astrocytes resulted in increased mRNA and protein for the proenkephalin (PE) and somatostatin genes. This receptor also increased expression of nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The potential role of opiate receptors was examined in several ways. Treatment of newborn rats for 7 days with the opiate antagonist naltrexone, prior to preparation of astrocytes, had no effect on PE mRNA or met-enkephalin content but resulted in a significant increase in NGF content. However, treatment of astrocytes in culture with met-enkephalin, morphine, or naltrexone had no effect on any of these parameters. No opiate binding could be detected, using either etorphine or bremazocine, to membranes of astrocytes prepared from cortex, cerebellum, striatum, or hippocampus of 1-day, 7-day, or 14-day postnatal rats. Thus we conclude that type 1 astrocytes do not express opiate receptors and that the in vivo effects of naltrexone are mediated indirectly via some other cell type/receptor.
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PMID:Receptor-mediated regulation of neuropeptide gene expression in astrocytes. 792 46


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