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)

Isolated rat tail arteries were perfused and vasoconstriction was evoked by electrical field stimulation (2 pulses at 1 Hz every 2 min). The vasoconstriction was depressed by DAGO (IC50 = 611 nM) and beta-endorphin (IC50 = 37 nM). Structuraly analogues and shorter fragments of beta-endorphin were also tested. beta-Endorphin and beta-endorphin-(1-26) were about equipotent whereas the beta-endorphin fragments 1-17, 1-16 and 6-31 were inactive. The potencies of beta-endorphin, beta-endorphin-(1-26), -(1-17) and -(1-16) were not changed in the presence of peptidase inhibitors. Structural analogues such as [D-Ala2]beta-endorphin or [Leu5]beta-endorphin had a somewhat lower potency than beta-endorphin itself. Naloxone 30 nM antagonized the effects of DAGO and beta-endorphin to a similar extent with dissociation constants 3.8 and 3.7 nM, respectively for the antagonist against the agonists. The results support the existence in the rat tail artery of a homogenous population of beta-endorphin-sensitive receptors which may belong to the epsilon-type.
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PMID:Further evidence for the existence of a homogenous beta-endorphin-sensitive receptor population in the rat tail artery. 283 51

Experiments were performed to test the hypothesis that the field-stimulated rat vas deferens preparation contains opioid receptors, other than of mu-type, which mediate part of the inhibitory effect of beta-endorphin. The Piebald Viral Glaxo strain of rats was used. The reported finding that delta-opioid receptors are present in Sprague-Dawley rat vas deferens, the effects of which are greatly enhanced in reduced calcium concentrations, could not be replicated in the rat strain used. Reducing the calcium concentration from 2.5 to 1.25 mM improved the response to opioid drugs: all full agonists were about 10 times more potent, the partial agonist normorphine became able to inhibit the twitch completely, and morphine (which behaves as a competitive antagonist in 2.5 mM Ca2+) appeared to behave as a partial agonist. The pA2 values for antagonism by naloxone in low calcium of the mu-selective peptide [D-Ala2,MePhe4,Gly(ol)5]enkephalin and other mu- or delta-selective agonists were consistent with an action at mu-receptors only. The value for beta-endorphin was slightly but significantly lower. A similar small discrepancy was found with two other competitive antagonists. The discrepancy remained in the presence of the peptidase inhibitors thiorphan, bestatin and bacitracin. Responses to both [D-Ala2,MePhe4,Gly(ol)5]enkephalin and beta-endorphin were attenuated by the irreversible antagonists beta-funaltrexamine and beta-chlornaltrexamine.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Lack of evidence for epsilon-opioid receptors in the rat vas deferens. 285 57

Aminopeptidase M (EC 3.4.11.2), which can degrade low molecular weight opioid peptides, has been reported in both peripheral vasculature and in the CNS. Thus, we have studied the metabolism of opioid peptides by membrane-bound aminopeptidase M derived from cerebral microvessels of hog and rabbit. Both hog and rabbit microvessels were found to contain membrane-bound aminopeptidase M. At neutral pH, microvessels preferentially degraded low molecular weight opioid peptides by hydrolysis of the N-terminal Tyr1-Gly2 bond. Degradation was inhibited by amastatin (I50 = 0.2 microM) and bestatin (10 microM), but not by a number of other peptidase inhibitors including captopril and phosphoramidon. Rates of degradation were highest for the shorter peptides (Met5- and Leu5-enkephalin) whereas beta-endorphin was nearly completely resistant to N-terminal hydrolysis. Km values for the microvascular aminopeptidase also decreased significantly with increasing peptide length (Km = 91.3 +/- 4.9 and 28.9 +/- 3.5 microM for Met5-enkephalin and Met5-enkephalin-Arg6-Phe7, respectively). Peptides known to be present within or in close proximity to cerebral vessels (e.g., neurotensin and substance P) competitively inhibited enkephalin degradation (Ki = 20.4 +/- 2.5 and 7.9 +/- 1.6 microM, respectively). These data suggest that cerebral microvascular aminopeptidase M may play a role in vivo in modulating peptide-mediated local cerebral blood flow, and in preventing circulating enkephalins from crossing the blood-brain barrier.
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PMID:Metabolism of opioid peptides by cerebral microvascular aminopeptidase M. 287 69

Vasopressin (VP)-converting aminopeptidase (VP-AP) activity and VP contents were measured in single rat pineal glands during the summer of two successive years. The peptidase activity decreased significantly in August. The lowest activity (+/- SEM) of 0.18 +/- 0.02 pmol.hour-1 was recorded on August 14, compared to the basal activity of 0.25 +/- 0.01 pmol.hour-1 in July and September of 1986. The change with similar percentage occurred in the same period of 1987. The specific activity of the enzyme in the crude homogenate, 15,000 g pellet and supernatant fraction of rat pineal glands, exhibited the same pattern of variations. The decrease in peptidase activity coincided with the previously reported dramatic rise in pineal VP content in early August which was confirmed in this series of experiments. Another peptidase, the so-called gamma-endorphin generating endopeptidase (gamma-EGE) activity, and beta-endorphin-related peptides in the pineal gland did not change in this period. The results show that the variations of pineal VP contents and VP-AP activity during summer are not general for other peptides and peptidases. The coincidence of opposite changes in VP content and VP-AP activity of the pineal gland may indicate a role of the peptidase activity to regulate the VP content.
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PMID:Changes in vasopressin-converting aminopeptidase activity in the rat pineal gland during summer: relationship to vasopressin contents. 297 42

Numerous anatomical, pharmacological and electrophysiological data described in the literature indicate that spinal enkephalinergic and serotoninergic systems are probably involved in the control of nociceptive inputs from the periphery to the cerebral cortex. However, reported evidence was generally indirect and did not provide a real demonstration of the physiological participation of these neurones in pain control. This led us to select appropriate experimental approaches for studying directly the activity of spinal enkephalinergic and serotoninergic systems in animals (rat, cat) submitted to noxious stimuli. Owing to two catheters introduced into the subarachnoidal space of anesthetized rats, it was possible to perfuse the whole spinal cord with an artificial cerebro-spinal fluid and thus collect the neuroactive compounds released by spinal neurones (at least those in superficial layers) under various experimental conditions. Using this technique, we observed that some (but not all) nociceptive stimuli such as intense pinching of the muzzle, intraperitoneal injection of acetic acid or noxious heat applied to the muzzle or the tail induced a significant increase in met-enkephalin release from the spinal cord (see fig. 2). Similar effects were observed following the blockade of enkephalin catabolism by thiorphan and bestatin (see fig. 1) indicating that they were not due to some alteration of peptidase activities but really involved the activation of spinal enkephalinergic systems. Since cervical cord transection suppressed the stimulatory action of noxious stimuli on spinal met-enkephalin release, it could be proposed that the mechanisms involved were not limited to the cord but depended on supraspinal structures. Bulbo-mesencephalic serotoninergic neurones projecting to the spinal cord might well correspond to such structures (or at least to some of them) since nociceptive stimuli (such as noxious heat applied to the tail) also evoked a marked increase of serotonin (5-HT) release at the spinal level (fig. 3). Such observations together with indirect evidence reported in the literature suggested therefore that the activation of spinal enkephalinergic systems triggered by noxious stimuli might result from excitatory influence due to descending serotoninergic projections. However, in vitro studies using slices of the dorsal zone of the rat lumbar cord did not reveal any stimulatory effect of 5-HT on the spontaneous or K+-evoked release of met-enkephalin (fig. 4).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:[The spinal enkephalinergic and serotoninergic systems in the control of transmission of nociceptive messages]. 299 51

Intracerebroventricular administration of the synthetic dipeptide derivative Lys-Trp (Nps) (LTN) elicits a potent and naloxone-sensitive antinociceptive effect in mice and in rats using heat and electrical current respectively as the noxious stimuli. LTN does not induce analgesia by directly acting on opioid receptors but the peptidase inhibiting activity of the new compound may account in part for the behavioral effect. LTN produces also a marked decrease in the met-enkephalin content of the periaqueductal gray suggesting a possible enkephalin releasing property. Structure-activity studies with different analogs of LTN indicate that replacement of Lys by other basic amino acids results also in compounds with a potent antinociceptive effect whereas replacement by neutral or acidic amino acids leads to a complete loss of activity.
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PMID:Antinociceptive effects in rodents of the dipeptide Lys-Trp (Nps) and related compounds. 301 88

Previous studies have shown that met- and leu-enkephalins are present in extracts of whole pancreas obtained from guinea pigs and human cadavers. The present studies demonstrate that immunoreactive methionine (met)- and leucine (leu)-enkephalins present in rat pancreas are localized in islets of Langerhans. Immunohistochemical staining of fixed, whole pancreas indicated that only islet endocrine cells were heavily stained when any of four different met- and leu-enkephalin-directed antisera or an anti-BAM-22P (bovine adrenal medulla docosapeptide) antiserum was used. The peptides were characterized by a combination of gel-filtration chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and specific radioimmunoassay. Free met-enkephalin content in extracts of rat islets was 90-fold enriched over content in extracts of whole pancreas (1.72 +/- 0.35 versus 0.019 +/- 0.007 pmol/mg protein). Treatment with trypsin and carboxy-peptidase-B of high-molecular-weight peptides extracted from pancreas or islets resulted in release of additional met-enkephalin immunoreactivity, which was 39-fold enriched in islets compared with pancreas (5.90 +/- 0.58 and 0.153 +/- 0.032 pmol/mg protein, respectively). Total islet content (per milligram protein) of met-enkephalin-containing peptides was similar to that reported elsewhere for bovine hypothalamus. The immunohistochemical data as well as the enrichment of extractable enkephalins in islets compared with whole pancreas indicate that essentially all the met-enkephalin present in pancreas is localized in islets, while the presence of BAM-22P immunoreactivity in islets is consistent with biosynthesis of enkephalins in islet cells via a preprohormone, such as that described in the bovine adrenal medulla and rat brain.
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PMID:Opioid peptides in rat islets of Langerhans. Immunoreactive met- and leu-enkephalins and BAM-22P. 351 Jan 38

Previous studies have shown that three distinct enzymes, amastatin-sensitive aminopeptidase, captopril-sensitive peptidyl dipeptidase A, and phosphoramidon-sensitive endopeptidase-24.11, played a critical role in the inactivation of enkephalins in isolated preparations. In the present study, therefore, the rank order of the potency of three endogenous opioid peptides, [Met5]-enkephalin, [Leu5]-enkephalin, and beta-endorphin, in three isolated preparations, guinea-pig ileum, mouse vas deferens, and rat vas deferens, was estimated in the presence of the mixture of three peptidase inhibitors, amastatin, captopril, and phosphoramidon. [Met5]-Enkephalin was approximately three-fold more potent than [Leu5]-enkephalin and four-fold more potent than beta-endorphin in guinea-pig ileum in which three opioid peptides were indicated to act on mu-receptors. Additionally, [Met5]-enkephalin was slightly but significantly more potent than [Leu5]-enkephalin and approximately twenty-fold more potent than beta-endorphin at delta-receptor sites in mouse vas deferens. Moreover, [Met5]-enkephalin was approximately three-fold more potent than [Leu5]-enkephalin, but sixty-fold less potent than beta-endorphin in rat vas deferens in which the opioid-receptor type interacting with enkephalins could not be determined. In conclusion, the well-known rank order of the potency of three endogenous opioid peptides was shown to be altered in both guinea-pig ileum and mouse vas deferens but not in rat vas deferens by the pretreatment of the preparations with the mixture of three peptidase inhibitors.
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PMID:The relative potency of enkephalins and beta-endorphin in guinea-pig ileum, mouse vas deferens and rat vas deferens after the administration of peptidase inhibitors. 376 46

[D-Ala2,D-Leu5]enkephalin (1-10 microM) and [Met5]enkephalin-Arg-Phe (1-10 microM) produced concentration-dependent inhibition of the cardiac response to field stimulation of the adrenergic nerve terminals in preparations pretreated with peptidase inhibitors (captopril 10 microM, bestatin 10 microM, thiorphan 0.3 microM and L-leucyl-L-leucine 2 mM). The inhibitory response to the opioid agonists was evident in preparations superfused with solutions containing 1.8 mM calcium, but not in those containing 3.6 mM calcium. Moreover the inhibition was antagonized by naloxone 10 microM. [D-Ala2,Met5]enkephalinamide (1-3 microM) and beta-endorphin (1-3 microM) did not significantly affect the sympathetic response. The cardiac response to sympathetic stimulation was not inhibited but, on the contrary, was potentiated by morphine (3-10 microM) and methadone (3-10 microM). It is suggested that the depressant effect of the opioid peptides was due to stimulation of presynaptic inhibitory opiate receptors on adrenergic nerve terminals of the heart, and that the potentiation of the sympathetic response by morphine and methadone was probably attributable to an unspecific inhibitory effect on the neuronal uptake of noradrenaline.
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PMID:Inhibition of the cardiac response to sympathetic nerve stimulation by opioid peptides and its potentiation by morphine and methadone. 609 97

Human beta-endorphin-like immunoreactive substances (beta h-EI) in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were determined radioimmunologically. The cross reactivity of the antibodies to human beta-endorphin (beta h-E) amounted to 40% for human beta-lipotropin (beta h-LPH) whilst it was less than 1% for leu- and metenkephalin, alpha- and gamma-endorphin, fraction I and II [5], substance P and alpha-MSH. Prior to radioimmunological determination, an adsorbtion of beta h-EI from CSF with silicic acid was carried out and followed by a desorbtion, using a mixture of aceton/hydrochloric acid. This method was chosen because of the ratio of beta h-LPH to beta h-E in the desorbate can be shifted in favour of beta h-E owing to the variation in recoveries r (r beta h-LPH = 33%, r beta h-E = 64%). On the one hand, this enables a more specific determination of beta h-E and, on the other hand, and separation of any peptidase than may be present [9]. An adsorbtion/desorbtion of 2 ml CSF surfaces to prove the presence of 20-150 pg/ml (65-48 fmol/ml) of beta h-EI. The CSF of 28 patients with various neurological diseases was examined and 24 of them had concentrations of 20-70 pg/ml beta h-EI. The remaining four which had concentrations less than 20 pg/ml, came from meningitis patients undergoing corticoid therapy. A purchasable RIA kid was tested for its determination of beta h-E and was found to be unsuitable.
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PMID:A simplified radioimmunological method for the determination of human beta-endorphin in cerebrospinal fluid. 616 16


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