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)

With the discovery of the opiate peptides, several major avenues of research became apparent. These peptides produced a great deal of focused attention on their anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology. In this article, we present an overview of some of the main research issues and recent findings in the field of opiate peptides. The possible relationship of the opiate peptide neuronal systems to schizophrenia is discussed in light of attempts to alter schizophrenic symptoms with opiate antagonists, beta-endorphin, and dialysis. It is hypothesized that if the opiate peptides are involved in schizophrenia, then their involvement with dopamine systems and/or with stress responses may be critical.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1979 Jan
PMID:Some observations on the opiate peptides and schizophrenia. 21 30

It was postulated from animal experiments that gamma-endorphin and, in particular, the nonopiate-like peptide [des-Tyr1]-gamma-endorphin (DTgammaE, beta-lipotropin [beta-LPH]62-77) have neurolepic-like activity. To test this, 14 patients with long-lasting, relapsing schizophrenic or schizoaffective psychosis resistant to conventional neuroleptics were treated with DTgammaE. An open design was used first for six patients (study 1) and a double-blind, crossover design for the other eight (study 2). In study 1, all neuroleptic medication was discontinued and 1 mg of DTgammaE zinc phosphate was given daily intramuscularly for about seven days. In study 2, six patients were maintained with neuroleptic therapy and two patients were drug free; all eight received daily intramuscular injections of 1 mg of nonlasting DTgammaE in saline and solution for eight days. There was transient or semipermanent improvement in both studies in which the psychotic symptoms diminished or even disappeared. In study 2, there was a slight but significant improvement with the first treatment. Improvement continued and by day 4, the psychotic symptoms had almost disappeared. No toxic side effects were noted. These effects of DTgammaE may be a consequence of the normalization of beta-endorphin homeostasis in the brain.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1979 Mar
PMID:Improvement of schizophrenic patients treated with [des-Tyr1]-gamma-endorphin (DTgammaE). 36 71

The neurointermediate lobes of dark-adapted toads Xenopus laevis were incubated for 30 min in [3H]arginine and then "chased" for various time periods. By use of this pulse-chase paradigm there were detected 10 trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-precipitable peptides separated on acid-urea polyacrylamide gels and one TCA-soluble peptide separated by high-voltage electrophoresis (pH 4.9) with melanotropic activity. Each of these peptides had a different degree of melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH) activity as revealed by the Anolis skin bioassay. Three of these TCA-precipitable peptides comigrated with ACTH, beta-lipotrophin, and alpha-MSH on acid-urea gels. Evidence suggesting a precursor-product mode of biosynthesis of the melanotropic peptides is presented. 7 of the 10 TCA-precipitable peptides and the one TCA-soluble peptide with melanotropic activity were released into the medium. The half-time of release of the TCA-precipitable peptides was about 2 h, whereas the half-time of TCA-soluble peptide release was about 30 min. The release of these peptides was inhibited by 5 X 10(-5) M dopamine. Dopamine inhibition of release did not appear to affect the biosynthesis of the melanotropic peptides, but did appear to enhance the degradation of the newly synthesized TCA-soluble peptide in the tissue. White adaptation of the toads greatly decreased the biosynthesis of all of the TCA-precipitable melanotropic peptides.
J Gen Physiol 1977 Jul
PMID:Biosynthesis, processing, and control of release of melanotropic peptides in the neurointermediate lobe of Xenopus laevis. 89 50

Intracellular proteolytic processing of fusion glycoprotein precursors (F0) of paramyxoviruses, i.e. a virulent strain of Newcastle disease virus (NDV), parainfluenza virus type 3 (PIV3) and simian virus 5 (SV5), was examined in NALM6 and BSC40 cells and compared with that in LLCMK2 cells to investigate the distribution of the virus-activating protease(s) among the cells and its substrate specificity. BSC40 cells lack a processing endoprotease of the neuropeptide precursor, pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), which possesses multiple cleavage sites at pairs of basic residues, Lys-Arg and Arg-Arg, a motif similar to that found in the cleavage site of the F0 proteins. In NALM6 cells, only small amounts of the F0 protein of virulent NDV was cleaved whereas those of PIV3 and SV5 were efficiently cleaved. In BSC40 cells the F0 proteins of these three viruses were cleaved normally as well as in LLCMK2 cells. The processing inhibitors monensin, chloroquine and A23187 suppressed the F0 cleavage in the three cell types. These results indicate that both NALM6 and BSC40 cells possess virus-activating proteases similar to that of LLCMK2 cells, but suggest that the enzyme of NALM6 may be slightly different in its substrate specificity from those of BSC40 and LLCMK2. The results also suggest that the virus-activating proteases are different in their distribution and substrate specificity from the processing enzyme of POMC.
J Gen Virol 1992 Mar
PMID:Distribution and substrate specificity of intracellular proteolytic processing enzyme(s) for paramyxovirus fusion glycoproteins. 131 18

Our previous observations have shown that calcitonin (CT) stimulates beta-endorphin, ACTH, and cortisol secretion. In order to give further information on the supposed hypothalamic pituitary involvement in this effect, we studied the influence of dexamethasone on this stimulative influence of CT. Six healthy women aged 50-65 years were investigated. All the subjects received 100 U CT salmon (Sandoz) i.v. at 0800 (0 time). Plasma beta-endorphin, ACTH, and cortisol were estimated every 30 min from -30 to 120 min by specific radioimmunoassays. The same subjects were evaluated a second time, at the same intervals, when 1 mg dexamethasone was administered per os at 11 PM the previous night and CT i.v. at 0800 the next morning. Beta-endorphin, ACTH, and cortisol levels (mean +/- SEM) rose significantly after 100 U CT from 5.6 +/- 0.17 to 16.75 +/- 1.8 pmol/L (p less than 0.001); from 39.6 +/- 6 to 88.0 +/- 3.1 pg/ml (p less than 0.0001) (from 8.7 +/- 1.3 to 19.4 +/- 0.7 pmol/L); and from 13.1 +/- 1.6 to 23.8 +/- 3.0 micrograms/dl (p less than 0.0001) [374 +/- 45 to 680 +/- 85 nmol/L], respectively. Dexamethasone suppressed almost completely the stimulatory effect of CT beta-endorphin rose from 4.9 +/- 0.12 to 6.3 +/- 1.3 pmol/L (n.s.), ACTH from 38.6 +/- 5.1 to 42.6 +/- 6.2 pg/ml (n.s.) (from 8.5 +/- 1.1 to 9.4 +/- 0.9 pmol/L) and cortisol from 0.88 +/- 0.23 to 0.88 +/- 0.18 microgram/dl (n.s.) (from 25.1 +/- 6.5 to 25.0 +/- 5.1 nmol/L).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
J Neural Transm Gen Sect 1992
PMID:Dexamethasone suppression of the calcitonin induced beta-endorphin, ACTH and cortisol secretion. 131 84

Steady-state analyses were performed on the proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-related end-products present in acid extracts of the pars intermedia of the anuran amphibian, Bombina orientalis. Sephadex G-75 gel filtration chromatography indicated that immunoreactive alpha-MSH-sized material and N-acetylated beta-endorphin-related material are the major POMC-related products present in this tissue. The alpha-MSH-sized immunoreactivity was further fractionated by reversed phase HPLC. The major peak of immunoreactivity isolated by this procedure eluted with the same retention time as synthetic ACTH(1-13)amide. Cation exchange chromatography supported the conclusion that the major storage form of alpha-MSH in the pars intermedia of Bombina is ACTH(1-13)amide. Analysis of Bombina pars intermedia in culture indicated that mono-acetylated and di-acetylated alpha-MSH were the major forms of alpha-MSH secreted into the medium. The major peak of N-acetylated beta-endorphin-related material was further analyzed by cation exchange chromatography and Sephadex G-25 gel filtration column chromatography. The major storage form of beta-endorphin in this tissue is N-acetylated, has a net positive charge at pH 2.75 of +1, and has an apparent molecular weight of 1.2K. The beta-endorphin present in the pars intermedia of this tissue does not undergo further N-acetylation at the time of secretion. These results indicate that in the pars intermedia of the archaeobatrachian, Bombina orientalis, the N-acetylation of alpha-MSH is a cosecretory processing event, whereas N-acetylation of beta-endorphin is a post-translational processing event. These results are compared to other archaeobatrachian and neobatrachian pituitary POMC systems that have been analyzed.
Gen Comp Endocrinol 1992 Aug
PMID:Detection and partial characterization of proopiomelanocortin-related end-products from the pars intermedia of the toad, Bombina orientalis. 132 51

Salt glands of ducks were induced to secrete sodium through the ingestion of salt water. In salt-adapted animals the administration of melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) produced a rise in the sodium excreted by the salt gland, an effect which was not mimicked by adrenocorticotropin. Studies in vitro using incubations of gland slices and radioactive sodium ion showed that MSH increased sodium efflux, indicating that it acted directly upon the gland. We have previously observed that MSH has no effect on the pigmentary system of the duck. It is proposed that in the evolutionary process this hormone has acquired new target tissues in these birds.
Gen Comp Endocrinol 1992 Sep
PMID:Alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone stimulates sodium excretion in the salt gland of the duck. 133 Aug 7

The secretion of most pituitary hormones is under the control of feedback mechanisms. The feedback control of alpha-melanophore-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) from melanotrope cells is controversial. The possible existence of an autofeedback exerted by alpha-MSH or other POMC-derived peptides on melanotrope cells of the amphibian Xenopus laevis has been investigated. alpha-MSH or its potent agonist 4-norleucine,7-D-phenylalanine-alpha-MSH has no effect on the release of radiolabeled POMC-derived peptides or immunoreactive beta-endorphin from superfused neurointermediate pituitary lobes. Melanin concentrating hormone, previously reported to have an alpha-MSH-like effect on melanophores, did not affect alpha-MSH secretion. Neurointermediate lobe superfusate, which contains a mixture of POMC-derived peptides, failed to affect the secretory activity of melanotropes. It is concluded that in X. laevis the secretory activity of melanotropes is not under the control of short-term autofeedback mechanisms involving alpha-MSH or other POMC-derived peptides.
Gen Comp Endocrinol 1992 Sep
PMID:Analysis of autofeedback mechanisms in the secretion of pro-opiomelanocortin-derived peptides by melanotrope cells of Xenopus laevis. 133 Aug 8

An altered immunoendocrine feedback regulation within the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis may modulate the pathogenesis of an avian autoimmune disease. To date studies have been hampered by a lack of reliable, specific, and sensitive methods for determining adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in chickens. The present study describes the determination of ACTH in plasma of chickens with a commercial radioimmunoassay, the antibody of which binds to the midregion of human ACTH 1-39. The chickens, kept on a 12-hr day and 12-hr night shift with artificial light, showed changes in plasma ACTH concentrations during the light phase with maximum values 8 hr after the light was turned on. ACTH was not measurable after treatment with dexamethasone. Intravenous administration of supernatants from concanavalin A-stimulated spleen cells increased basal plasma ACTH concentrations more than 20-fold within 1 hr. This increase in plasma ACTH was higher and longer lasting in UCD 200 chickens, an animal model for scleroderma, compared with outbred and inbred normal White Leghorn chickens.
Gen Comp Endocrinol 1992 Nov
PMID:Investigation of ACTH responses of chickens with autoimmune disease. 133 39

Cerebrospinal fluid hormones, monoaminergic metabolites, and dynorphin A (1-8 sequence) were examined in 43 children with severe, primary obsessive-compulsive disorder. Cerebrospinal fluid levels of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid were positively correlated with one of eight obsessive-compulsive disorder severity ratings and three of seven measures of improvement following 5 weeks of treatment with clomipramine hydrochloride. Arginine vasopressin concentration was significantly and negatively correlated with several ratings of obsessive-compulsive disorder symptom severity, while oxytocin concentration was positively correlated with depressive symptoms. The ratio of arginine vasopressin to oxytocin was also negatively correlated with obsessive-compulsive disorder and depressive symptoms. Comorbid affective disorder was associated with decreased arginine vasopressin concentrations, while concomitant anxiety disorder was associated with increased oxytocin. Dynorphin A (1-8 sequence), homovanillic acid, corticotropin, 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol, and corticotropin releasing hormone were not significantly related to obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms. These results seem to indicate that arginine vasopressin may be related to obsessive-compulsive disorder symptom severity, while 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid might be associated with drug response.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1992 Jan
PMID:Cerebrospinal fluid neurochemistry in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder. 137 Jan 97


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