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)

A 32-year-old male (Mr. A.), monitored during an 8-d heat acclimation (HA) investigation, unexpectedly exhibited heat intolerance and heat exhaustion. Thirteen other males completed HA without indications of either heat intolerance or heat exhaustion. Because Mr. A. responded normally to HA on days 1-4, the intervention of an unknown host factor on days 5-8 was suggested. Mr. A.'s heat exhaustion episode (day 8) was apparently forewarned by loss of body weight and increased delta HR, delta Tsk (days 5-8) and delta Tre (days 7-8) during daily 90-min trials. His symptoms indicated classical salt depletion heat exhaustion, but the calculated salt deficit (less than 0.1 g NaCl.kg-1 body weight) was mild. Post-heat exhaustion serum enzyme levels were either normal (ALT, AST) or acutely elevated (CPK). Blood beta-endorphin and cortisol levels were six times and two times greater than control values, respectively. This case report is unique because clinical/physiological measurements and blood analyses were performed before, during, and after heat intolerance and heat exhaustion.
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PMID:Heat intolerance, heat exhaustion monitored: a case report. 335 82

Previous work has suggested that the antinociceptive effect of nitrous oxide (N2O) in rats is mediated, at least in part, by beta-endorphin (beta-EP) and that centrally administered beta-EP stimulates release of methionine-enkephalin (ME) in the rat spinal cord. Since inhibition of central nitric oxide (NO) production has been found to suppress N2O antinociception, we examined the possible involvement of NO in the release of spinal cord ME by i.c.v. beta-EP. Urethane-anesthetized, male Sprague-Dawley rats were intrathecally (i.t.) perfused with artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) and fractions of perfusate were assayed for immunoreactive (i.r.) ME. The beta-EP-induced increase in ME concentration in the i.t. perfusate was significantly suppressed by perfusing the animal with aCSF containing 100 microM L-NG-nitro arginine (L-NOARG), an inhibitor of NO synthase (NOS). The further addition of 50 microM L-arginine (L-ARG), but not D-arginine (D-ARG), to the aCSF reversed the suppression of the ME change by L-NOARG. However, the potency of L-ARG decreased with increasing concentrations of L-ARG. On the other hand, increasing the concentration of L-NOARG in the aCSF to 250 microM failed to produce a greater suppression of the beta-EP-induced increase in ME. These findings suggest that NO may mediate the beta-EP-induced release of ME in the spinal cord and that interference with this mechanism might be an explanation for the antagonism of N2O antinociception in rats by NOS inhibitors.
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PMID:Involvement of nitric oxide in intracerebroventricular beta-endorphin-induced neuronal release of methionine-enkephalin. 779 28

There is now considerable evidence that nitric oxide (NO) is an important neuroregulatory agent, but there has been very little investigation of the possible role of NO in neuroendocrine mechanisms. We have previously shown that acute rat hypothalamic explants can be used to study the regulation of hypothalamic neuropeptide release, and we have now utilised this experimental approach to investigate the putative involvement of NO in the control of the principal corticotropin-releasing hormone, CRH. We studied the direct effects of the NO precursor L-arginine (L-ARG), as well as the NO donors molsidomine and sodium nitroprusside, on both the basal and stimulated release of CRH; the stimuli used were non-specific depolarisation with potassium chloride (KCl) and the specific cytokine, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta; 100 U/ml). L-ARG was tested in each experimental condition with and without contemporaneous addition of its competitive antagonist NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA). IL-1 beta-induced CRH release was also investigated in the presence of D-arginine (D-ARG), which is not active as a precursor to NO, and ferrous hemoglobin (Hb), a substance which is a potent inactivator of NO. None of the NO precursors (L-ARG, molsidomine, sodium nitroprusside) or antagonists (L-NMMA or Hb) was able to affect basal CRH release. However, L-ARG 10 and 100 microM were found to significantly inhibit the release of CRH induced by 40 mM KCl; CRH fell to 45% of its stimulated level at the higher dose of L-ARG. This effect was attenuated in the presence of L-NMMA at a ten-fold higher dose.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Nitric oxide modulates the release of corticotropin-releasing hormone from the rat hypothalamus in vitro. 848 68

We have investigated the signal transduction pathway of the G-protein mu-opioid receptor upstream of phospholipase D (PLD) and protein kinase C-epsilon (PKC-epsilon) activation in postmitotic E6CH chick embryo cortical neurons. The mu-opioid receptor and PLD-PKC-epsilon functional coupling depends on upstream tyrosine kinase activation. We now report that the mu-opioid agonists specifically stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation and activation of the focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in a time-dependent manner. We also demonstrate that met-enkephalin, a mu-opioid agonist in E6CH cultures, significantly increases tyrosine phosphorylation of another Src kinase substrate, the cytoskeletal protein cortactin. Tyrosine phosphorylation of cortactin led to drastic changes in subcellular localization, an estimated 2-fold enrichment in the cytosol. Similarly, opioids stimulated a sustained tyrosine phosphorylation of vinculin, a protein enriched in focal adhesion sites. These data provide novel evidence that opioid receptor intracellular signaling engages the specific activation of tyrosine kinase FAK and regulates the neuronal cytoskeleton during central nervous system morphogenesis.
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PMID:mu-Opioids activate tyrosine kinase focal adhesion kinase and regulate cortical cytoskeleton proteins cortactin and vinculin in chick embryonic neurons. 936 24

Recent reports show that alpha-MSH (melanocyte-stimulating hormone) is mitogenic and melanogenic for normal human melanocytes, and that this effect is mediated through binding to the melanocortin receptor (MC1R) and activation of cAMP formation. alpha-MSH has also been shown to induce changes in cell shape in melanocytes and melanoma cells, particularly increased dendricity, suggesting a potential role for alpha-MSH in melanocyte-matrix interactions and pigment transfer through reorganization of the melanocyte actin filament cytoskeleton. In this report we show that the potent alpha-MSH analog (Nle4, D-Phe7)-alpha-MSH (NDP-MSH) induces reorganization of the actin stress fiber cytoskeleton in treated human melanocytes and that this reorganization is associated with increased adhesion to fibronectin (FN). Because most melanocyte growth factors act synergistically on melanocyte mitogenesis, we also sought to determine the effect of the melanocyte mitogen endothelin-1 (ET-1) on the melanocyte actin cytoskeleton, melanocyte adhesion, and melanocyte migration. We show that ET-1, which increases melanocyte migration on FN, has opposite effects on melanocyte adhesion to FN compared with NDP-MSH and that endothelin-1-induced actin reorganization is distinct from that observed following NDP-MSH treatment. Finally, we show that focal adhesion kinase (pp125FAK), a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase associated with focal contact formation and cell migration, is phosphorylated on tyrosine residues after treatment of melanocytes with ET-1, but not NDP-MSH. These data indicate that while alpha-MSH and ET-1 act synergistically to modulate melanocyte proliferation, they have opposite effects on melanocyte-matrix interactions.
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PMID:Alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone and endothelin-1 have opposing effects on melanocyte adhesion, migration, and pp125FAK phosphorylation. 941 62

Immunocytes from the mollusc Mytilus galloprovincialis express corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) receptor subtype (CRH-R1 and CRH-R2)-like mRNAs. Using computer-assisted microscopic image analysis, we have found that exogenous CRH provokes changes in the cellular shape of immunocytes, and that this response is extracellular Ca(2+)-dependent. The various inhibitors of transduction signaling pathways, i.e. suramin sodium, 2', 5'-dideoxyadenosine, neomycin sulfate, calphostin C, H-89, and wortmannin, completely or partially inhibit these changes. The present findings demonstrate that PKA, PKC, and PKB/Akt are involved in CRH-induced cell shape changes in immunocytes, and that the cellular effect of CRH needs the synergistic action of the two second messengers, cAMP and IP(3).
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PMID:Synergistic role of cAMP and IP(3) in corticotropin-releasing hormone-induced cell shape changes in invertebrate immunocytes. 1076 42

The understanding of epilepsy has advanced substantially in the past decade, and new anticonvulsant drugs with novel mechanisms of action are continually being developed. Some of these newer (and older) medications have been discussed in this article. A wide variety of other drugs is occasionally used in the management of epilepsy. Although parenteral magnesium sulfate is used mainly for the prevention and control of seizures in severe preeclampsia or eclampsia, parenteral magnesium sulfate may also be useful in controlling epileptic seizures associated with low plasma magnesium concentrations. Although considered obsolete, bromides have been useful in the management of tonic-clonic or myoclonic seizures in some infants and preadolescent children when other drugs were unsuitable. Acetazolamide may be useful in the management of refractory partial, myoclonic, absence or primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures; however, tolerance develops to the effect of the drug. Corticotropin and corticosteroids are sometimes used in the management of myoclonic seizures in infants. Steroids may be used in seizures due to intracerebral malignancies and metastasis but are more effective in blunting the intracranial swelling associated with these diseases. Recognition of these new drugs may allow the paramedic or EMT to identify seizure patients in the field. Knowledge of the side effects of these medications may be used to guide patients into appropriate treatment pathways.
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PMID:Anticonvulsant medications. 1145 38

Here we report antimitogenic mechanisms activated by the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in the mouse Y1 adrenocortical tumor cell line. ACTH receptors activate the Galphas/adenylate cyclase cAMP/PKA pathway to promote dephosphorylation of Akt/PKB enzymes, leading to induction of the cyclin-dependent kinases' (CDKs) inhibitor p27(Kip1). Y1 cells display high constitutive levels of phosphorylated Akt/PKB dependent on chronically elevated c-Ki-Ras.GTP and PI3K activity. Expression of the dominant negative mutant RasN17 in Y1 cells results in strong reduction of both c-Ki-Ras.GTP and phosphorylated Akt/PKB, which are restored by FGF2 treatments. Inhibitors of PI3K lead to rapid dephosphorylation of Akt/PKB and block phosphorylation of Akt/PKB promoted by FGF2. ACTH rapidly promotes dephosphorylation of Akt/PKB in Y1 adrenal cells, while constitutively high levels of c-Ki-Ras.GTP remain unchanged. ACTH and cAMP elevating agents fail to cause Akt/PKB dephosphorylation in PKA-deficient clonal mutants of Y1 cells. In addition, cholera toxin, forskolin, and 8BrcAMP all mimic ACTH, causing dephosphorylation of Akt/PKB in wild-type Y1 cells. ACTH is unable to prevent Akt/PKB phosphorylation, promoted by FGF2 in clonal lines of RasN17-Y1 transfectants displaying negligible levels of c-Ki-Ras.GTP. ACTH promotes strong p27(Kip1) protein induction in wild-type Y1 adrenocortical cells but not in PKA-deficient Y1-clonal mutants nor in RasN17-Y1 transfectants. PI3K inhibitors induce p27(Kip1) protein in all cells studied, i.e., wild type and transfectants. The inverse correlation between levels of phosphorylated Akt/PKB and of p27(Kip1) protein caused by ACTH suggests a novel antimitogenic pathway activated by ACTH and mediated by cAMP/PKA in the mouse Y1 adrenocortical tumor cell line.
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PMID:ACTH promotion of p27(Kip1) induction in mouse Y1 adrenocortical tumor cells is dependent on both PKA activation and Akt/PKB inactivation. 1214 78

Screening for HIV in China began in 1984, with the first AIDS case appearing in 1985. 305,280 sera were tested as of 1992, of which 379 were seropositive for antibodies to HIV. Of these 379 individuals, there were 4 hemophiliacs identified in 1985, 1 homosexual male, 4 individuals returning from Africa, 365 drug addicts and 2 spouses. 68 foreigners and 1 Chinese hemophiliac from Hong Kong also tested seropositive. Concern is expressed over the psychosomatic trials of infected women who feel unable to discuss their HIV status with family members for fear of influencing their role as primary caregivers and sex partners. Without access to medical therapy and support groups, these women no doubt feel isolated. Non-directive counseling is recommended for seropositive women during pregnancy. AIDS patients have reduced natural killer cell cytotoxicity. Seminal plasma also suppresses several immune responses. The pathogenicity of HIV, however, has yet to be determined. Fatty acid metabolism and Beta-endorphin are discussed in the context of therapeutic approaches. HIV/STD interactions are finally considered with individual attention given to bacterial vaginosis, hepatitis B, Chlamydia trachomatis, Herpes Simplex virus, microbiological contaminants of the vagina bacterial vaginosis, syphilis, mycoplasmas/epididymitis, bacterial prostatitis, and IVF culture media infections.
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PMID:HIV / STD interactions immunosuppression and future research development. 1228 86

The NGFI-B (Nur77) subfamily of orphan nuclear receptors (NRs), which also includes Nurr1 and NOR1, bind the NurRE regulatory element as either homo- or heterodimers formed between subfamily members. These NRs mediate the activation of pituitary proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene transcription by the hypothalamic hormone corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), an important link between neuronal and endocrine components of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. CRH effects on POMC transcription do not require de novo protein synthesis. We now show that CRH signals activate Nur factors through the cyclic AMP/protein kinase A (PKA) pathway. CRH and PKA rapidly increase nuclear DNA binding activity of NGFI-B dimers but not monomers. Accordingly, CRH- or PKA-activated Nur factors enhance dimer (but not monomer) target response elements. We also show that p160/SRC coactivators are recruited to Nur dimers (but not to monomers) and that coactivator recruitment to the NurRE is enhanced in response to CRH. Moreover, PKA- and coactivator-induced potentiation of NGFI-B activity are primarily exerted through the N-terminal AF-1 domain of NGFI-B. The TIF2 (SRC-2) glutamine-rich domain is required for this activity. Taken together, these results indicate that Nur factors behave as endpoint effectors of the PKA signaling pathway acting through dimers and AF-1-dependent recruitment of coactivators.
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PMID:Dimer-specific potentiation of NGFI-B (Nur77) transcriptional activity by the protein kinase A pathway and AF-1-dependent coactivator recruitment. 1252 83


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