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)

We have estimated the corticotropin-releasing activity (CRA) of different neurohypophyseal peptides and synthetic corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in the duck, using perfused dispersed pituitary cells and an ACTH radioimmunoassay adapted to duck material. Log dose-response curves were obtained for different doses of arginine-vasopressin (AVP), arginine-vasotocin (AVT), mesotocin (MT), oxitocin (OT) and ovine CRF (oCRF) and compared to the response obtained with dilutions of duck median eminence extracts (DME). All peptides tested behaved as partial agonists compared to DME. AVT and MT were the most potent of all peptides tested, with a capacity of 60% relative to DME. CRF was a weak agonist together with AVP and OT. AVT and CRF perfused together at equal doses significantly potentiated the effect of each other, yielding a dose-response line whose slope approximated that of DME. A similar design was used to test the CRA of the same substances in the rat. The main difference in the pattern of response between the two species was the low potency displayed by all the neurohypophyseal peptides in the rat, compared with CRF which, in contrast with what occurred with the duck system, was the most potent secretagogue of all peptides tested. It is concluded that in birds, as in mammals, the control of ACTH secretion may be exerted by neurohypophyseal peptides and a CRF-like peptide acting synergistically upon the corticomelanotropic cell.
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PMID:The regulation of the corticomelanotropic cell activity in Aves--II. Effect of various peptides on the release of ACTH from dispersed, perfused duck pituitary cells. 286 34

The subcommissural organ (SCO) of the snake Natrix maura was studied by use of the immunoperoxidase procedure. Primary antisera against bovine neurophysins (Nps I + II, OXY-Np), oxytocin (OXY), mesotocin (MST), arginine-vasotocin (AVT), somatostatin (SOM), beta-endorphin (END) and bovine Reissner's fiber were used. A conventional ultrastructural study, with special emphasis on the nerve fibers present in the SCO, was also performed. Nerve fibers containing immunoreactive OXY-Np and MST were seen to reach the SCO. The staining of adjacent sections with the anti-Reissner's fiber serum showed that the OXY-Np- and MST-immunoreactive fibers were distributed among the cell bodies and processes of the ependymal secretory cells. No fibers containing immunoreactive OXY, AVT, SOM or END were found in the SCO. The ultrastructural analysis revealed in the SCO the presence of nerve fibers filled with electron-dense granules, 170-210 nm in diameter. Although a direct apposition between these fibers and the SCO cells was frequently seen, no synaptic differentiations were identified. Structures identical to the Herring bodies (found in the neurohypophysis) were seen in the SCO.
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PMID:Immunocytochemical and ultrastructural evidence for a neurophysinergic innervation of the subcommissural organ of the snake Natrix maura. 288 36

Neonatal mice, under fasting conditions, are susceptible to the development of lesions in the arcuate nucleus (AN) of the hypothalamus, with high doses of monosodium L-glutamate (MSG). Feeding of nutrients (e.g., sugars and L-amino acids) has been shown to have a protective effect against the development of these lesions. The purpose of these studies was to elucidate the mechanism of this protective effect. Histopathologic examination of lesions of the AN demonstrated that feeding of weaning mice before subcutaneous administration of toxic doses of MSG suppressed the development of these lesions, as compared to fasted controls. Similarly, the number of necrotic cells in the AN of neonates administered toxic doses of MSG subcutaneously was reduced when D-glucose and L-arginine were administered orally. Atropine obliterated the protective effect of D-glucose. Pretreatments consisting of gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) + oral D-glucose had a protective effect of higher potency than GIP alone. Pretreatments with insulin, anorexigenic peptide (pyroGlu-His-Gly), cholecystokinin, glucagon, bombesin, and substance P (in decreasing order of effectiveness) demonstrated a protective effect against the AN lesion in neonates, whereas somatostatin and beta-endorphin had no effect. Results suggest that the protective effect of nutrients may in part be due to the stimulation of peptide hormone release during the postabsorptive phase. It is postulated that the effect of entero-pancreatic hormone, especially insulin, is to enhance the tolerance of AN neurons of neonatal mice to the toxic dose of L-glutamate.
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PMID:Mealing and related hormone release suppress hypothalamic lesions of neonatal mice by L-glutamate. 288 96

In opiate-naive rats, the endogenous opioid peptides, beta-endorphin, dynorphin(1-13) and Met-Enk-Arg-Phe (MEAP) and the synthetic enkephalin analogue D-Ala2-D-Leu5-Enk (DADLE) potently stimulated plasma corticosterone in a dose-dependent, naloxone reversible manner. To characterize their in vivo affinities, the effects of these peptides on plasma corticosterone release were tested in rats made tolerant to morphine, U50488H, DADLE/morphine or beta-endorphin. These cross-tolerance studies showed that dynorphin and MEAP exerted their action on plasma corticosterone release at kappa-opioid receptors. The action of DADLE occurred at delta-opioid receptors, while the action of beta-endorphin occurred principally at another receptor site. These results indicate that there is independent modulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis by endogenous opioid peptides at mu-, delta- and kappa-opioid receptors. In addition there may be modulation by beta-endorphin at a separate site that we suggest could be a central epsilon-receptor site. This cross-tolerance paradigm, using a neuroendocrine model, provides in vivo evidence for the action of centrally active endogenous opioid peptides at multiple and independent opioid receptors.
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PMID:Mu-, delta-, kappa- and epsilon-opioid receptor modulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis: subchronic tolerance studies of endogenous opioid peptides. 289 74

1. The melanotropin-releasing activity of arginine-vasopressin (AVP), arginine-vasotocin (AVT), oxitocin (OT), mesotocin (MT) and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) was studied in the duck using dispersed, perfused pituitary cells and a specific alpha-MSH RIA. 2. Log dose-response curves were obtained for all the peptides ranging from 5 to 100 ng/ml. All peptides behaved as partial agonists compared to duck median eminence extracts (DME). 3. AVT and MT displayed an alpha-MSH releasing capacity of 60% relative to DME whereas all other peptides behaved as weak agonists with less than 15% capacity relative to DME. 4. AVT and CRF when perfused together acted synergistically on alpha-MSH release yielding a dose response line whose slope approximated that of DME. 5. ACTH was cosecreted together with alpha-MSH in all situations studied with an ACTH to alpha-MSH molar ratio of about 10. 6. It is concluded that CRF and neurohypophyseal peptides may be physiological stimulators of both alpha-MSH and ACTH release in aves.
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PMID:The regulation of the corticomelanotropic cell activity in aves. III--Effect of various peptides on the release of MSH from dispersed, perfused duck pituitary cells. Cosecretion of ACTH with MSH. 290 54

1. The changes in FMRFamide (Phe-Met-Arg-Phe-NH2) immunoreactivity in response to incubation in dopamine, serotonin, met-enkephalin, oxytocin, arg-vasopressin and FMRFamide were examined in the central nervous system of the snail, Achatina fulica. 2. When the central nervous system was cultured in medium which contained dopamine and in medium which contained serotonin, the number of immunoreactive neurons increased in the anterior part of the cerebral ganglion and decreased in the sub-esophageal ganglion. 3. When arg-vasopressin was added to the culture medium, the number of immunoreactive neurons increased in the pedal ganglion and decreased in the other sub-esophageal ganglion. 4. By contrast, when the central nervous system was cultured in medium which contained oxytocin, the number of immunoreactive neurons did not increase, but rather decreased, in each ganglion. 5. No changes in immunoreactivity were detected in the central nervous system when it was cultured in medium which contained FMRFamide. 6. It appears, from these results, that the production and release of FMRFamide from different neurons are differentially affected by the physiologically active substances tested.
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PMID:Dynamics of FMRFamide immunoreactivity in response to physiologically active substances in the central nervous system of the snail, Achatina fulica. 290 40

The effects of beta-endorphin on glucose, insulin, and glucagon levels were studied in normal fasted adult male rabbits. An intravenous bolus of glucose (0.7 g/kg body wt) produced a hyperglycemic state (peak plasma glucose 306 +/- 22 mg/dl; means +/- SE) that lasted approximately 90 min. beta-Endorphin (31 micrograms/g body wt; iv) administered immediately prior to the glucose challenge resulted in plasma glucose levels that were significantly higher from 10 to 90 min after the glucose challenge (P less than 0.001-0.05). From 10 to 30 min, plasma insulin levels were significantly lower in the beta-endorphin group (P less than 0.001-0.05), peaking at one-half the control group levels. Glucagon levels were unchanged by the glucose bolus in either the control or beta-endorphin-treated group (means +/- SE = 102.8 +/- 4 pg/ml). In another experiment, a 30-min infusion of L-arginine (13 mg-1 X kg body wt-1 X min iv) in normal fasted rabbits produced a rapid (10 min) increase in plasma insulin and glucagon and a return to base-line levels 60 min after withdrawing the arginine stimulus. Plasma glucose levels were not altered by arginine (mean +/- SE = 94.5 +/- 1 mg/dl). Administration of beta-endorphin (31 micrograms/kg body wt iv) at the start of the arginine infusion resulted in a rapid (10 min) and long-lasting (up to 60 min) hyperglycemic effect associated with a significant decrease in insulin levels (10-20 min; P less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Beta-endorphin-induced hyperglycemia in rabbits: effects of a glucose or arginine challenge. 295 Jul 69

To address the possibility that an abnormality in pancreatic beta-endorphin activity might contribute to abnormal insulin secretion in diabetes mellitus, we studied the effects of beta-endorphin infusion on islet function in diabetic patients. The iv infusion of human beta-endorphin at a dose of 0.5 mg/h for 2 h in type-2 non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients (n = 12) raised plasma insulin and glucagon levels and slightly but significantly lowered plasma glucose concentrations. beta-Endorphin infusion also resulted in reappearance of a clear-cut acute insulin response to glucose, while second phase insulin release was increased and glucose disposal accelerated. Acute insulin and glucagon responses to arginine were not increased by beta-endorphin, suggesting that the effect of the opioid on the B cells of the diabetic patients is specific for glucose. An intraislet abnormality of opioid peptides action and/or secretion may play a role in the disturbances of insulin secretion in patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus.
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PMID:Beta-endorphin infusion restores acute insulin responses to glucose in type-2 diabetes mellitus. 295 94

The immunohistochemical distribution of opioid peptides derived from proenkephalin A in the rat pituitary was studied by indirect immunofluorescence; immunoreactive peptides were also characterized by column chromatography followed by specific RIAs. Nerve terminals in the neural lobe were immunoreactive (ir) for Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Met-Arg-Phe (YGGFMRF), Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Met-Arg-Gly-Leu (YGGFMRGL), and met-enkephalin [Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Met (YGGFM)]. All cells in the intermediate lobe were ir for YGGFMRF, while only occasional cells exhibited YGGFMRGL-like immunoreactivity, and YGGFM-ir cells were not detected in this lobe. In the anterior lobe, some large ovoid cells, identified as gonadotrophs, were immunoreactive for enkephalins. The number of YGGFMRF-ir cells was larger than the number of YGGFMRGL- and YGGFM-ir cells, and these opioid peptides were present in cells that did not contain beta-endorphin immunoreactivity. Twenty times more YGGFMRF than YGGFMRGL-immunoreactivity was present in the anterior lobe, whereas the neurointermediate lobe obtained 4 times more ir YGGFMRF than YGGFMRGL. Pituitary lobe extracts contained substantial amounts of high mol wt forms of ir YGGFMRF and YGGFMRGL, but not of YGGFM or Leu-enkephalin (Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Leu). Low mol wt ir peptides present in both lobes consisted largely of the authentic peptides when analyzed by HPLC; however, an unidentified YGGFMRF-ir peptide was also detected. The results indicate that the proenkephalin A molecule may be processed differentially in the various compartments of the pituitary gland and that opioid peptides derived from this precursor may have functional roles in all three lobes. The relatively large amount of YGGFMRF immunoreactivity, which was detected both biochemically and immunohistochemically, indicates that YGGFMRF-ir peptides may be important proenkephalin A-derived products in the pituitary gland.
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PMID:Enkephalins in the rat pituitary gland: immunohistochemical and biochemical observations. 295 13

Lipotropin and peptides related to beta-endorphin were extracted from the anterior pituitary and the pars intermedia of porcine pituitary and were resolved by gel exclusion and ion exchange chromatography. Possible heterogeneity in the structure of the lipotropin was investigated by identifying the C-terminal fragment released by limited proteolysis with trypsin; the cleavage was restricted to the carboxyl group of arginine residues by employing citraconylation to protect the epsilon-NH2 groups of lysine. The lipotropin obtained from both regions of the pituitary gave rise to the same C-terminal peptide which contained the 31-residue sequence of beta-endorphin; none of the 26- and 27-residue forms was detected. In contrast, the beta-endorphin-related peptides that were isolated directly from the pars intermedia exhibited a high degree of C-terminal proteolysis: they were present principally as the 26- and 27-residue peptides. The results demonstrate that lipotropin differs from beta-endorphin in that it occurs exclusively in the form that contains the full C-terminal sequence. It is concluded that during biosynthesis lipotropin undergoes conversion to beta-endorphin before proteolysis takes place at the C-terminus. The processing reactions that convert lipotropin to beta-endorphin 1-31 and beta-endorphin 1-31 to beta-endorphin 1-27 are thus ordered and not competitive. The results also indicate that glycylglutamine, the bioactive C-terminal dipeptide of lipotropin, is formed from beta-endorphin and not from lipotropin.
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PMID:Sequential formation of beta-endorphin-related peptides in porcine pituitary. 296 43


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