Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P01189 (beta-endorphin)
 21,003 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) from dispersed goldfish anterior pituitary cells was examined in order to determine whether human angiotensin II (AII) would potentiate the ACTH-releasing activity of urotensin I (UI) and ovine corticotropin-releasing factor (oCRF), peptides with a sequence homology of greater than 50%. In mammals, AII has a slightly enhancing or potentiating effect on CRF-stimulated ACTH release. In the present investigations, concentrations of AII (0.5 and 1 nM), and of UI (1 nM) or oCRF (3 nM), which elicit moderate increases in ACTH release, were tested alone and in combination. The ACTH-releasing activities of AII and UI combined, or of AII and oCRF combined, showed no potentiation and in fact were less than additive. It was concluded that AII does not potentiate the ACTH-releasing activity of either UI or oCRF observed with goldfish anterior pituitary cells in vitro.
Gen Comp Endocrinol 1988 Mar
PMID:Angiotensin II stimulation of teleost adrenocorticotropic hormone release: interactions with urotensin I and corticotropin-releasing factor. 283 58

We determined the in vitro effects of changes in extracellular monovalent ion levels and osmotic pressure on the spontaneous and adrenocorticotropin (ACTH)-stimulated interrenal activity of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). We used a perifusion system of incubation and monitored interrenal activity by measuring the effluent cortisol content with a radioimmunoassay. An increase in the medium osmolality with mannitol, from 206 to 290 or 353 mosmol, caused an increase in the spontaneous release of cortisol only slightly (compared with the much greater increase induced by porcine-ACTH). A similar minor increase was observed when NaCl was elevated from 130 to 180 mM. On the other hand, the spontaneous release of cortisol was not affected by increasing the KCl level from 3.2 to 9.6 mM, but was clearly increased when KCl was raised from 3.2 mM to a supraphysiological level of 27.2 mM. Ionic or osmolality changes, within the physiological range observed in coho salmon plasma, did not affect the characteristics of interrenal secretion of cortisol in response to porcine-ACTH. If our results with interrenal cells in vitro are representative of the basic functioning of the cells in vivo, then one would have to conclude that changes in concentrations of plasma monovalent ions or in osmotic pressure may not play a significant physiological role in the regulation of interrenal steroidogenesis or corticosteroid release in coho salmon.
Gen Comp Endocrinol 1988 Mar
PMID:Spontaneous and ACTH-induced interrenal steroidogenesis in juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch): effects of monovalent ions and osmolality in vitro. 283 61

Melanophore-stimulating hormones (MSHs) from chum salmon cause pigment dispersion in isolated melanophores of medaka, a teleost. The in vitro medaka melanophore bioassay that responded to light with pigment dispersion and to the dark with pigment aggregation was utilized for measuring the activity of melanotropic hormones. alpha-MSH I was the most potent melanophore-dispersing agent tested. The minimal dose for the induction of pigment dispersion was 10(-15) M alpha-MSH I, 10(-13) M N-des-acetyl(Ac)-alpha-MSH, and 10(-11) M beta-MSH I, respectively. The melanosome-dispersing activity of beta-MSH I was enhanced about 40% by salmon N-acetyl-endorphin I (N-Ac-EP). The results suggest that N-Ac-EP may act as an enhancer for the activity of certain MSHs. The present bioassay provides a unique method for determining the biological activity of melanotropic peptides.
Gen Comp Endocrinol 1988 Apr
PMID:A sensitive bioassay for melanotropic hormones using isolated medaka melanophores. 283 61

This study examined the effects of angiotensin II (ANG II) and mammalian adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) on adrenal corticosteroid secretions in the freshwater turtle, Pseudemys scripta. Synthetic turtle ANG II ([Asp1, Val5] ANG II) was infused at rates of 1, 10, and 100 ng/kg/min in conscious turtles while monitoring blood pressure (BP). One 60-min saline (0.6%) infusion preceded the ANG II infusions; two followed. Blood samples were collected at 30- and 60-min intervals and the plasma was frozen at -20 degrees until assay. Mammalian ACTH was infused at doses of 0.1 and 1.0 IU/min; the procedures were followed as delineated above. The plasma was assayed for corticosterone, cortisol, and aldosterone utilizing radioimmunoassay techniques. Infusions of exogenous, native ANG II at subpressor and pressor rates elicited dose-dependent increases in BP, which rose from a control mean of 22.6 +/- 5.8 mm Hg to a maximum mean value of 38.2 +/- 11.0 mm Hg (P less than 0.05 compared to control), and plasma corticosterone concentrations, which rose from a control mean of 6.6 +/- 2.8 ng/ml to a maximum mean value of 27.2 +/- 2.6 ng/ml (P less than 0.05 compared to control). Furthermore, both BP and corticosterone levels returned toward control levels during the final saline recovery period, suggesting that neither physical stress suffered by the animal nor blood volume changes due to infusions and blood sampling affected these parameters. ACTH failed to alter either BP or corticosterone. Neither ANG II nor ACTH had any effect on plasma cortisol or aldosterone concentrations--which fell below the minimal detection levels for these assays.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Gen Comp Endocrinol 1988 Oct
PMID:The effects of adrenocorticotropin hormone and angiotensin II on adrenal corticosteroid secretions in the freshwater turtle Pseudemys scripta. 284 7

Acid extracts of individual pars intermedia from the Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri, were fractionated by gel filtration chromatography and analyzed for alpha-melanotropin (alpha-MSH) immunoreactivity. In these studies a C-terminal-specific alpha-MSH radioimmunoassay (RIA) was used. Following gel filtration chromatography on a Sephadex G-75 column, a major peak of immunoreactive alpha-MSH-sized material was detected. On the average there was 338 +/- 72 pmol (SD) of immunoreactive alpha-MSH per lungfish pars intermedia (n = 3). Following gel filtration the immunoreactive alpha-MSH was further analyzed by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Three peaks of immunoreactivity were detected. These peaks were designated Peaks 1, 2, and 3. The retention times of these peaks corresponded to, respectively, mammalian ACTH(1-13)amide, N-acetyl-ACTH(1-13)-amide, and N,O-diacetyl-ACTH(1-13)amide. Peaks 2 and 3 represented approximately 95% of the immunoreactive alpha-MSH recovered. Analysis of immunoreactive Peaks 2 and 3 by cation-ion-exchange indicated that both peaks had a net charge of +3 at pH 2.5. Since O-acetyl groups are sensitive to high pH, Peak 3 was incubated for 1 hr at 37 degrees in 0.01 N NaOH, pH 12. Under these conditions, Peak 3 eluted with the same retention time as untreated Peak 2. Collectively, these results indicate that Peaks 2 and 3 correspond to mono- and diacetylated lungfish alpha-MSH, respectively.
Gen Comp Endocrinol 1988 Sep
PMID:Immunological evidence for multiple forms of alpha-melanotropin (alpha-MSH) in the pars intermedia of the Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri. 284 55

The effects of several hypothalamic peptides on hormone secretion by pituitaries of three species of anuran amphibians were investigated using in vitro techniques. Secretion of thyrotropic bioactivity (designated thyrotropin or TSH) was quantified by bioassay of the pituitary incubation medium using thyroxine (T4) production by paired thyroids from the same animals. Pituitaries from adult male Rana pipiens were cultured in medium alone, 10 or 100 ng/ml thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), 1000 ng/ml ovine corticotropin-releasing hormone (oCRH), or 300 ng/ml synthetic mammalian gonadotropin-releasing hormone (mGnRH) (these represent approximately equimolar doses) for two 2-hr incubation periods. TSH secretion by control glands was nondetectable, but glands exposed to TRH increased their secretion of TSH in a dose-dependent manner. Both oCRH and mGnRH also stimulated significant increases in TSH. oCRH produced greater output of TSH than did the other two peptides and mGnRH was less active than TRH. Secretion of immunoreactive gonadotropin (GtH) was increased by mGnRH, but not by the other two peptides. Pituitaries from two other anuran species, Hyla regilla and Xenopus laevis, also responded to 100 ng/ml TRH by releasing TSH. These results provide the first unequivocal evidence that TRH can act directly on the anuran amphibian pituitary to stimulate the secretion of TSH, and suggest that the presence of functional TRH receptors on pituitary thyrotropes may be of greater phylogenetic antiquity than has been assumed previously. Furthermore, these data suggest the potential for multihormonal control of TSH secretion in frogs.
Gen Comp Endocrinol 1988 Dec
PMID:Several hypothalamic peptides stimulate in vitro thyrotropin secretion by pituitaries of anuran amphibians. 285 81

Five antisera against insulin (Ins), glucagon (Glu), somatostatin (SRIF), met-enkephalin (met-enk), and serotonin (5-HT) were used for immunofluorescence detection of endocrine cells in pancreas and gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) at three stages of development (leptocephalic larva, glass-eel, and adult eel). Comparable distribution of endocrine cells was observed for adults and glass-eels. In their pancreatic islets, positive immunoreactions were obtained only for Ins, SRIF, and Glu; this later was also present in the pancreatic ducts. 5-HT cells were present throughout the GIT. SRIF cells were situated mostly in the stomach and less in the intestine. Met-enk cells were abundant in the pyloric cecum, but less frequent in the intestinal mucosa. Glu cells were present only in the intestine. No insulin-immunoreactive cells could be detected in the GIT. The pancreatic islets of leptocephalic larvae exhibited a strong reaction for SRIF, a weak reaction for Glu, and none at all for Ins, met-Enk, or 5-HT. The GIT of these larvae contained numerous met-enk cells, mainly in the foregut. In the fore- and midgut, cells exhibited a weak fluorescence after treatment with Glu antiserum. No positive immunoreactive cells were observed with 5-HT, SRIF, or Ins antisera.
Gen Comp Endocrinol 1985 Jun
PMID:Detection of endocrine cells by immunofluorescence method in the gastroenteropancreatic system of the adult eel, glass-eel, and leptocephalic larva (Anguilla anguilla L.). 286 Nov 42

Low levels of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) somatostatin and abnormal response to dexamethasone are two neuroendocrine disturbances reported to appear in depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders. We measured the levels of CSF somatostatin in patients with schizophrenia (n = 44) and depression (n = 19). In view of in vitro and animal evidence of the ability of somatostatin to inhibit stimulated corticotropin secretion, we also administered the dexamethasone suppression test to a subgroup of the patients with schizophrenia (n = 16) and the total depressed group. Lower levels of CSF somatostatin were found in dexamethasone nonsuppressors regardless of diagnosis and were negatively correlated with maximum postdexamethasone cortisol level in the total and depressed patient groups. These data suggest a functional relationship between hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis hyperactivity and reduced CSF somatostatin level.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1986 Apr
PMID:CSF somatostatin and abnormal response to dexamethasone administration in schizophrenic and depressed patients. 286 43

As a first step toward assessing the status of brain neuropeptide systems that may be involved in Alzheimer's disease (AD), the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of the neuropeptides arginine vasopressin, somatostatin, oxytocin, and beta-endorphin were measured in patients with AD, normal elderly subjects, and normal young subjects. The plasma arginine vasopressin level was also measured in the three groups. The CSF arginine vasopressin level was significantly lower in patients with AD than in either elderly or young normal subjects, but oxytocin and beta-endorphin levels did not differ between groups. The CSF osmolarity also did not differ between groups. The plasma arginine vasopressin level did not significantly differ between groups, but high plasma arginine vasopressin values were absent in the patients with AD. The CSF somatostatin level was significantly lower in patients with AD than in normal elderly persons, but it did not differ in young normal subjects. These results suggest that central vasopressinergic activity may be decreased in AD and confirm reports of low CSF somatostatin levels in AD.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1986 Apr
PMID:Cerebrospinal fluid vasopressin, oxytocin, somatostatin, and beta-endorphin in Alzheimer's disease. 286 44

The brain acetone powders of the sea snakes Hydrophis cyanocinctus and Lapemis hardwickii were extracted with a mixture of acetone:water:hydrochloric acid (40:21:1 by volume) and the extracts were then added to a copious volume of acetone, in accordance with the method of C. H. Li (1952, J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 74, 2134) for preparing adrenocorticotropin and beta-endorphin from mammalian pituitaries. The resultant precipitate, designated acid acetone powder, possessed adrenocorticotropic activity as evidenced in its ability to stimulate corticosterone production in isolated rat adrenal decapsular cells and lipolysis in isolated hamster adipocytes, and in its cross-reactivity in an ACTH radioimmunoassay. The presence of opioid molecules was indicated by activity in opiate radioreceptor assay using either 3H-D-Ala2-D-Leu5 enkephalin or [3H]naloxone as ligand and rat brain membranes. The brain acetone powders possessed neither "lactogenic" nor "somatogenic" activity as evidenced by their inability to displace the primary ligand in the rat hepatic prolactin receptor- and growth hormone receptor-binding assays, respectively.
Gen Comp Endocrinol 1986 Jul
PMID:Evidence for the presence of adrenocorticotropic and opiate-like hormones in the brains of two sea snakes, Hydrophis cyanocinctus and Lapemis hardwickii. 287 27


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>