Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P01275 (glucagon)
 26,492 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Using rabbit and guinea-pig antisera, raised against GEP neurohormonal peptides of mammalian origin, cells were observed in the brain and/or in the fused ventral ganglia of the last (fifth) larval instar of the hoverfly, Eristalis aeneus, being immunoreactive with antisera against insulin, somatostatin, glucagon, PP, secretin, gastrin/CCK/caerulein; substance P, enkephalin and endorphin. Most of these GEP neurohormonal peptides also occurred in nerve fibers. No immunoreactive cells or nerve fibers could be detected with antisera against GIP, VIP, (the central fragments of) CCK, bombesin or neurotensin. The antisera tested failed to reveal any immunoreactive cells or nerves in Weismann's ring (fused corpus allatum/corpus cardiacum and thoracic gland) or in different parts of the alimentary tract. The observations support the hypothesis that neuronal GEP hormonal peptide production in the brain is a genuinely original mechanism and the appearance of endocrine cells in the gut a later feature in evolution.
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PMID:Immunohistochemical evidence of gastro-entero-pancreatic neurohormonal peptides of vertebrate type in the nervous system of the larva of a dipteran insect, the hoverfly, Eristalis aeneus. 616 52

Mice infected with reovirus type 1 develop an autoimmune polyendocrine disease. Spleen cells from these mice were fused with myeloma cells and the culture fluids were screened by indirect immunofluorescence for autoantibodies reactive with normal mouse tissues. A large panel of cloned, stable antibody-producing hybridomas has been obtained. Fourteen of the hybridomas make autoantibodies that react with cells in the islets of Langerhans, 24 with cells in the anterior pituitary, 11 with cells in gastric mucosa, and 5 with nuclei. Except for the antibodies to nuclei, the monoclonal autoantibodies are organ-specific. Some, however, show broad cross-species reactivity, recognizing similar antigenic determinants in mouse, rat, pig, and human organs, whereas other recognize determinants only in rodent tissues. Several of the antigens recognized by these monoclonal autoantibodies have been identified as hormones (for example, glucagon, growth hormone, and insulin).
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PMID:Virus-induced autoimmunity: monoclonal antibodies that react with endocrine tissues. 630 Oct 2

When compared to normal liver membranes, purified plasma membranes of regenerating liver and Morris hepatomas contain low but variable capacities to bind glucagon. This property is inversely related to the capacity of the isolated hepatocytes to bind to heterologous biomatrix glycoproteins. Since these parameters are characteristic of the proliferative state of the cells, it was important to further study the glucagon receptor protein and stimulation of adenylate cyclase activity. Our results show that 125I-iodinated plasma membranes obtained from normal liver contain three molecular species (117000, 98000, 86000 molecular weight) that can be eluted specifically with glucagon from a sepharose-glucagon affinity column. These proteins contain the putative glucagon receptor since binding of 125I- iodoglucagon is increased 150-fold as compared to unfractionated membranes. Plasma membranes obtained from Morris hepatoma (7800) and liver of chemically hepatectomized rats do not bind glucagon and lack these proteins. After inactivation with N-ethylmaleimide of the adenylate cyclase activity of the normal plasma membranes, they were fused with membrane of the hepatoma. The hybrid membranes showed 60% recovery of glucagon-stimulated cyclase activity. These results suggest that the plasma membranes of the proliferating liver cells do not contain receptor protein but have intact regulatory and catalytic subunits of the adenylate cyclase system.
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PMID:Lack of glucagon receptors in Morris hepatoma 7800. 632 89

In order to clarify insulinotropic effects of the myelin basic protein (MBP) we studied mode of association and distribution of MBP in the pancreatic islets and tested the insulin-releasing activity of various MBP peptides. Rat pancreatic islets were first stimulated in a static incubation with 10 microM bovine MBP (bMBP) at a substimulatory (3.5 mM) glucose concentration. The islets exposed to MBP released significantly more insulin and glucagon in a second incubation in the absence of added stimulant and in the presence of 11.5 mM arginine than the incubated, non-stimulated islets and islets initially stimulated with 15 mM glucose. Response to stimulation with 15 mM glucose in the second incubation by islets exposed first to MBP was impaired compared to incubated, non-stimulated islets. Immunoelectron microscopy showed that MBP had entered into the islet cells and associated with membranes of intracellular vacuoles, most of which represented enlarged, often fused insulin granules. MBP was also present at the islet edge and in the intercellular spaces. Of the purified MBP peptides of sizes of 4.8-13.6 kDa, produced from the digestion with brain acid proteinase and with pepsin and covering the entire bMBP sequence, only the large peptides (1-88, 9.8 kDa and 43-169, 13.6 kDa) stimulated insulin secretion significantly. Heterogeneous peptide mixtures, obtained from a time-course digestion of bMBP by myelin calcium-activated neutral protease, consisting of peptides of approximate molecular weights of 8-11 kDa and larger, also stimulated insulin release. The glucagon-releasing activity of MBP peptides was low and followed the same pattern as the insulin-releasing activity. The present results suggest that MBP-induced fusion of the membranes of hormone granules is involved in MBP-induced insulin release. The hormone-releasing activity of the large peptides in addition to that of the intact molecule is explained as being due to the ability of these peptides to associate with membranes. MBP-induced hormone release and related effects could be associated with neuropathological conditions such as stroke and multiple sclerosis.
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PMID:Evidence supporting membrane fusion as the mechanism of myelin basic protein-induced insulin release from rat pancreatic islets. 749 48

cAMP has neutrotrophic effects in the nervous system. We have investigated whether there is a correlation between cAMP-induced neurite outgrowth and induction of chromogranin B and synapsin I gene expression. These genes encode marker proteins of distinct populations of vesicles in neurons, neuroendocrine and endocrine cells, and in addition, they contain a cAMP response element (CRE) in their upstream regions, making it likely that cAMP-induced neuronal differentiation might be accompanied by increased transcription of these genes. We increased intracellular cAMP levels in neuronal and neuroendocrine cells and analyzed the levels of chromogranin B and synapsin I mRNA. Our data revealed that, while chromogranin B mRNA was in fact induced following cAMP stimulation, synapsin I mRNA was not affected. To analyze the cis-acting sequences, we constructed hybrid genes containing the upstream region of the mouse chromogranin B gene fused to a reporter gene. Similar plasmids containing the synapsin I or the glucagon promoter were constructed. Transfections of neuronal and endocrine cells, together with deletion mutagenesis, revealed that the CRE of the chromogranin B gene mediated the effect of cAMP upon transcription. This effect was mimicked by overexpression of the catalytic subunit of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase. In addition, overexpression of the negative-acting CRE-binding protein CREB-2 revealed that the chromogranin B CRE functions as a bifunctional genetic regulatory element in that it mediates basal as well as cAMP-stimulated transcription. Synapsin I gene expression, however, was not induced by either elevated intracellular cAMP concentration or by overexpression of protein kinase A, although a similar pattern of proteins, including CREB, bound to the synapsin I and chromogranin B CRE in vitro. Thus while the CRE element in the chromogranin B gene promoter is responsive to cAMP, the same element, when present in the synapsin I promoter, does not confer cAMP inducibility.
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PMID:Differential regulation of chromogranin B and synapsin I gene promoter activity by cAMP and cAMP-dependent protein kinase. 752 78

The hormones of the endocrine pancreas are believed to play an important role in early development. The development of the pancreas and the appearance of hormone-producing cells during embryogenesis have been extensively studied in mammals and birds. Relatively little work has been done in other vertebrates, and there are no published studies regarding the order Crocodilia. Given the pivotal phylogenetic position of crocodilians, Alligator mississippiensis provides an interesting species in which to study the embryonic development of the endocrine pancreas. The aims of the present study were (1) to investigate the morphological development of the pancreas and (2) to determine the initial appearance and regional distribution of the pancreatic endocrine cells in the embryonic alligator. At each stage of development serial sections of pancreatic tissue were stained with hematoxylin and eosin to aid in morphological description. Using immunocytochemistry sections were stained to detect the presence of insulin, glucagon, somatostatin, and pancreatic polypeptide. The dorsal pancreatic bud was first observed at stage 8, coincident with the appearance of insulin-containing and glucagon-containing cells. Somatostatin-containing cells were first detected at stage 10. At stage 13 the ventral pancreatic bud was first observed. At stage 14 the dorsal and ventral pancreatic buds fused and insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin were found throughout the pancreas. Not until stage 17 was pancreatic polypeptide first detected. Unlike the other hormones, pancreatic polypeptide was rare or absent in the dorsal region of the pancreas. In later stages of development, somatostatin-containing cells were the most abundant and constituted 35-40% of all hormone-containing cells. The sequence of appearance of insulin and glucagon found in the alligator is the same as that found in mammals and birds.
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PMID:Ontogeny and regional distribution of hormone-producing cells in the embryonic pancreas of Alligator mississippiensis. 792 34

The gene encoding proglucagon is expressed in the A-cells of the endocrine pancreas and the L-cells of the gastrointestinal tract. Proglucagon-derived peptides have also been detected in different regions of the central nervous system; however, proglucagon mRNA transcripts have been localized predominantly to the brainstem and hypothalamus. We have studied proglucagon gene expression in the brain of mice using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction technique. Proglucagon mRNA transcripts were detected in the cortex, cerebellum, and brainstem of embryonic day 19 mouse brain and in the cortex, cerebellum, brainstem, and hypothalamus of 2- to 12-week-old wild-type mice. Age-specific changes in proglucagon gene expression were observed, with a progressive decrease in the levels of proglucagon mRNA transcripts detected in the cortex of older mice. In contrast, a progressive increase in the levels of proglucagon mRNA transcripts was detected with increasing age in the brainstem. Proglucagon gene expression was also examined in the brain of glucagon-simian virus-40 (SV40) T-antigen transgenic mice. The levels of proglucagon gene expression in transgenic cerebellum and brainstem were relatively greater than those in wild-type mice on embryonic day 19, and increased levels of proglucagon mRNA transcripts were observed in transgenic cerebellum, brainstem, and hypothalamus at 2 weeks. In contrast, the levels of proglucagon mRNA transcripts were markedly reduced in the brain of 5-week-old transgenic mice. A reduction in the levels of SV40 T-antigen mRNA transcripts was also detected in the brain of transgenic mice at 5 weeks, but no suppression of the mRNA transcripts for the neuropeptide somatostatin was observed in 5-week-old transgenic brain. The results of these studies suggest that proglucagon mRNA transcripts are more widely distributed in the mouse central nervous system than previously demonstrated and that proglucagon gene expression in the brain appears to be regulated in a region- and age-specific manner. The coordinate region-specific expression and regulation of mRNA transcripts derived from the endogenous mouse proglucagon gene and a glucagon-SV40 T antigen transgene in the central nervous system of mice harboring a transgene containing 2.0 kilobases of rat proglucagon gene 5'-flanking sequences fused to the coding sequence of SV-4 large T-antigen suggest that neural-specific elements residing within the first 2.0 kilobases of glucagon gene 5'-flanking sequences are sufficient for the correct targeting and regulation of proglucagon gene expression in the brain.
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PMID:Region- and age-specific differences in proglucagon gene expression in the central nervous system of wild-type and glucagon-simian virus-40 T-antigen transgenic mice. 831 63

Glutamine transport was studied in preconfluent monolayered, mononucleated myoblasts (4 days old) and in fused, multinucleated, differentiated myotubes (10 days old), both prepared from neonatal rat skeletal muscle. The initial (60 s) rate of 50 microM glutamine uptake in myoblasts and myotubes was stereospecific, saturable, and largely (80%) Na+ dependent. At glutamine concentrations of 0.01-1 mM, Na(+)-dependent uptake showed saturation kinetics: in myoblasts, the Michaelis constant (Km) was 197 +/- 38 microM, maximum velocity (Vmax) was 1,165 +/- 60 pmol.min-1.mg protein-1; in myotubes, Km was 174 +/- 51 microM and Vmax was 1,435 +/- 47 pmol.min-1.mg protein-1. The Na(+)-dependent glutamine uptake was Li+ tolerant in both myoblasts and myotubes. The Na(+)-dependent uptake of 50 microM L-[3H]glutamine was investigated in the presence of various amino acids at 0.01-10 mM. Histidine and asparagine competitively inhibited glutamine uptake, but inhibition by serine was noncompetitive; glutamate, arginine, leucine, and 2-aminobicyclo(2,2,1)heptane-2-carboxylate (BCH) had no significant inhibitory effects; 2-(methyl-amino)isobutyrate (MeAIB) caused a small but significant inhibition. In parallel with a stimulation of glucose transport, addition of insulin stimulated Na(+)-dependent glutamine uptake within 1 h by a maximum of 27% in myoblasts and 42% in myotubes (half-maximal stimulation at 0.3 nM insulin). Glucagon had no effect. Kinetic analysis revealed that the insulin-stimulated increase in glutamine transport was due to a Vmax effect, which was cycloheximide inhibitable. The insulin-stimulated increase was Li+ tolerant and not inhibited by MeAIB or cysteine at 1 mM. The results indicate that the predominant glutamine transporter of neonatal rat skeletal muscle cells in primary tissue culture in System Nm. System Nm also appears to be the major insulin-sensitive glutamine transport component in skeletal muscle. Primary muscle culture appears to be a useful preparation for studying glutamine transport and its regulation.
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PMID:Characteristics of glutamine transport in primary tissue culture of rat skeletal muscle. 833 46

It has been proposed that the Xenopus homeobox gene, XlHbox8, is involved in endodermal differentiation during pancreatic and duodenal development (Wright, C.V.E., Schnegelsberg, P. and De Robertis, E.M. (1988). Development 105, 787-794). To test this hypothesis directly, gene targeting was used to make two different null mutations in the mouse XlHbox8 homolog, pdx-1. In the first, the second pdx-1 exon, including the homeobox, was replaced by a neomycin resistance cassette. In the second, a lacZ reporter was fused in-frame with the N terminus of PDX-1, replacing most of the homeodomain. Neonatal pdx-1 -/- mice are apancreatic, in confirmation of previous reports (Jonsson, J., Carlsson, L., Edlund, T. and Edlund, H. (1994). Nature 371, 606-609). However, the pancreatic buds do form in homozygous mutants, and the dorsal bud undergoes limited proliferation and outgrowth to form a small, irregularly branched, ductular tree. This outgrowth does not contain insulin or amylase-positive cells, but glucagon-expressing cells are found. The rostral duodenum shows a local absence of the normal columnar epithelial lining, villi, and Brunner's glands, which are replaced by a GLUT2-positive cuboidal epithelium resembling the bile duct lining. Just distal of the abnormal epithelium, the numbers of enteroendocrine cells in the villi are greatly reduced. The PDX-1/beta-galactosidase fusion allele is expressed in pancreatic and duodenal cells in the absence of functional PDX-1, with expression continuing into perinatal stages with similar boundaries and expression levels. These results offer additional insight into the role of pdx-1 in the determination and differentiation of the posterior foregut, particularly regarding the proliferation and differentiation of the pancreatic progenitors.
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PMID:PDX-1 is required for pancreatic outgrowth and differentiation of the rostral duodenum. 863 Dec 75

In a subset of patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus an 8-base pair (bp) repeat was found from -322 to -315 in the 5'-flanking region of the insulin gene. This 8-bp repeat is inserted into a sequence that is highly homologous to a sequence motif, called PISCES (pancreatic islet cell-specific enhancer sequences), found within cell-specific enhancer elements of the rat insulin I (Ins-E1, from -332 to -285), rat glucagon (Glu-G3) and rat somatostatin (SMS-UE) genes. The PISCES motif confers pancreatic islet-specific activity and is recognized by an islet-specific transcription factor (PISCES-BP). The consequences on functional activity and on protein binding of the 8-bp repeat sequence in the human insulin promoter was investigated. When fused to a reporter gene and transiently transfected into an insulin-producing islet cell line, the 8-bp repeat decreased basal transcriptional activity of the human insulin promoter (from -366 to +42) whereas the induction of promoter activity by cAMP was unaffected. The isolated rat Ins-E1 element was sufficient to confer basal transcriptional activity to a minimal promoter; the corresponding fragments of the normal and variant human insulin genes (from -329 to -288), however, were not. Using nuclear extracts in an electrophoretic mobility shift assay, it was found that PISCES-BP recognizes rat Ins-E1, but PISCES-BP binding to the corresponding normal and variant human insulin promoter fragments was not detectable and weak, respectively. However, a nuclear protein was found that binds to the variant but not normal human sequence. These data suggest that the 8-bp repeat in the variant human insulin promoter found in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus allows the binding of a nuclear protein that interferes with promoter function.
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PMID:Nuclear protein binding and functional activity of a variant insulin gene found in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. 881 39


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