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

To elucidate the importance of cholinergic innervation for pancreatic beta-cells in vivo, atropine sulphate (0.2 mg/kg body weight) was subcutaneously injected into mice 4 times a day for 10 days. Control animals received 0.9% NaCl. Paraffin sections of the pancreas were stained for beta-cells with aldehyde fuchsin and for alpha-cells (glucagon cells) with silver according to Grimelius. Endocrine and exocrine cell nuclei were measured with an ocular screw micrometer. The light absorbance at 550 nm wave-length of aldehyde-fuchsin-stained islet sections was measured with a microscope photometer. Atropine caused no loss of body weight or apparent food consumption. The nuclei of beta-cells shrank significantly in response to atropine; A550 of islet surfaces showed a significant negative correlation to beta-cell nuclear size. Acinar cell nuclei near islets also became smaller after atropine treatment but to a lesser extent. No such change was observed in the alpha-cells. A trophic influence of the vagal nerve may be important for the long-term control of beta-cell function.
 ...
PMID:Are pancreatic beta-cells under vagal control? 8 61

From 1980 to 1987, 35 patients underwent exploratory surgery for carcinomas of the extrahepatic biliary tract (EBT). Samples from 28 of these tumors (15 gallbladder, 13 bile duct) were assessed by immunohistochemical analysis for exocrine and/or neuroendocrine differentiation. Seven patients were excluded from the study because of insufficient available specimen or loss to follow-up. Paraffin sections were immunostained for neuroendocrine differentiation markers: neuron-specific enolase (NSE), chromogranin-A, synaptophysin, serotonin, somatostatin, substance-P, and glucagon. Additional sections were also stained with monoclonal antibody A-80 that recognizes a glycoprotein related to exocrine differentiation. The tumors were reclassified on the basis of immunophenotyping data: (I) pure exocrine carcinoma (n = 8); (II) predominantly exocrine carcinoma with occasional neuroendocrine cells (n = 9); (III) mixed exocrine-neuroendocrine carcinoma (n = 4); (IV) pure neuroendocrine (n = 2); and (V) predominantly neuroendocrine with occasional exocrine cells (n = 5). Survival time among the two pure neuroendocrine (group IV) and five predominantly neuroendocrine carcinomas (group V) was significantly less than the survival time of patients from the other groups (2.6 +/- 2.2 months vs 13.5 +/- 12.3 months; p = 0.015). No difference was noted between groups in extent of disease, treatment rendered, or location of tumor (bile duct vs gallbladder). This study indicates that (1) the incidence of neuroendocrine differentiation in cancers of the EBT is higher than generally recognized, (2) carcinomas of the EBT may be phenotypically reclassified on the basis of immunohistochemical analysis, and (3) the presence of pure or predominant neuroendocrine differentiation in carcinomas of the EBT is associated with shorter survival time than carcinomas with pure or predominant exocrine differentiation (or mixed exocrine and neuroendocrine factors).
 ...
PMID:Neuroendocrine differentiation and prognosis of extrahepatic biliary tract carcinomas. 171 46

Paraffin-embedded specimens from a total of 94 small-cell carcinomas of the lung (SCCL) were screened for immunoreactivity to nine different peptide hormones (ACTH, calcitonin, gastrin, glucagon, growth hormone, human chorion gonadotropin, insulin, somatostatin and vasoactive intestinal peptide, VIP) using an indirect immunoperoxidase technique with commercially available kits. Special attention was focused on the prognostic significance of the peptide immunoreactivity. A total of 32 carcinomas (34%) showed immunoreactivity to one or more peptide hormones, the cases with ACTH reactivity (24.5%) far outnumbering those with reactivity to calcitonin (1.1%), somatostatin (1.1%), VIP (3.3%) or multiple peptides (4.3%). The mean survival of the patients was 8.4 months, being shorter (7.3 months) for the SCCLs with peptide reactivity than for the nonreactive carcinomas (9.2 months). The most favorable survival was found in VIP-reactive tumors (20.5 months), and the worst (2.0 months) in cases reactive to multiple peptides. The results suggest that immunohistochemical screening of the SCCL biopsies for the peptide hormones might be of benefit in predicting the clinical outcome of the disease.
 ...
PMID:Peptide hormone immunoreactivity and prognosis in small-cell carcinoma of the lung. 286 57

A morphologic, histochemical, and immunocytochemical study of 20 cases of pure gastrointestinal carcinoids, adenocarcinomas, and mixed neoplasms composed of both elements, so-called composite carcinoma-carcinoid tumors (CCC), was undertaken in order to correlate the morphologic patterns with the immunocytochemical localization of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), serotonin, and a battery of polypeptide hormones (calcitonin, glucagon, insulin, gastrin, somatostatin, and adrenocorticotropin [ACTH]). Paraffin sections from five pure carcinoids, seven pure adenocarcinomas, and eight CCC from the stomach, small bowel, appendix, and colon were studied with mucicarmine, silver impregnation stains, and a peroxidase-anti-peroxidase technic. Of the eight CCC, all were mucin positive, four were argyrophilic, and three were argentaffin positive. CEA was present in all eight, serotonin in seven, and calcitonin in one. No other neurohormonal peptides were demonstrated. The distribution of serotonin and CEA generally corresponded to the morphologic pattern, but discordance was observed in two cases, i.e., serotonin was not always localized to areas of carcinoid and CEA not always confined to areas of carcinoma. All five pure carcinoids demonstrated intracytoplasmic localization of serotonin, whereas none contained intracytoplasmic CEA. In two cases, CEA was present within acinar lumens only. The seven colonic adenocarcinomas were argyrophil and argentaffin negative. All contained CEA within the cytoplasm and in gland lumens. None contained serotonin. None of the neurohormonal peptides was localized in either pure adenocarcinomas or carcinoids. This study reveals that among gastrointestinal neoplasms displaying morphologic patterns of adenocarcinoma and carcinoid, immunocytochemical localization of CEA and serotonin confirms their bidirectional differentiation and justifies the designation "composite carcinoma-carcinoid."
 ...
PMID:Composite carcinoma-carcinoid tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. A morphologic, histochemical, and immunocytochemical study. 389 86

Morphologically different pancreatic islet cells of the rat reveal immunoreactivity under incubation with anti-ACTH 1-39. In normal rats, anti-ACTH reactivity is detectable predominantly in peripheral, polygonal cells. Paraffin serial section treated alternately with anti-ACTH and anti-glucagon show that the major portion of the anti-ACTH reactivity is localized in A cells. A few A cells, however, lack anti-ACTH reactivity. Anti-ACTH reactivity was also detected in individuals, round-to-oval, occasionally quite large and more centrally situated cells of pancreatic islets. In contrast, islets of steroid diabetic rats reveal a different distribution islets. In contrast, islets of steroid diabetic rats reveal a different distribution of anti-ACTH reactive cells. The number of peripheral reacting cells is greatly reduced; whereas there is an increase in the number of immunoreactive, large, round or polygonal cells, which are distributed throughout the islet. Preliminary investigations indicate that adsorption of ACTH 18-39 and glucagon onto anti-ACTH 1-39 reduces immunoreactivity in normal and steroid diabetic rats, whereas adsorption of ACTH 1-24 does not.
 ...
PMID:Immunocytochemical detection of anti-ACTH reactivity in pancreatic islet cells of normal and steroid diabetic rats. 627 37

Neuropilin-2 (NP-2) is a cell surface transmembrane protein originally characterized as a receptor for the type 3 semaphorins, and more recently for a number of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) isoforms. NP-2 expression has been recently localized to a subset of neuroendocrine cells in the gastrointestinal tract. The aim of this study was to define the expression pattern of NP-2 in normal pancreatic islets and to determine the utility of NP-2 expression as a diagnostic marker of pancreatic endocrine tumours. Paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 30 endocrine pancreatic tumours (EPTs) and from normal pancreas were immunostained with a rabbit polyclonal antibody generated towards NP-2. Nineteen of the tumours were hormonally functional (nine insulinomas, nine gastrinomas, and one glucagonoma). The NP-2 staining pattern was correlated with islet cell hormone expression. In addition, NP-2 expression was evaluated in other normal neuroendocrine tissues and neuroendocrine neoplasms. In normal pancreas, NP-2 stained a distinct subset of islet cells situated primarily at the islet periphery. Double immunohistochemical staining revealed co-localization with glucagon-expressing cells. Moderate to strong NP-2 staining was present in 27 of 30 EPTs. Serial staining of the pancreatic tumours with insulin, gastrin, glucagon, pancreatic polypeptide (PP) or somatostatin did not reveal a distinct pattern of co-localization. NP-2 expression was not detected in neuroendocrine cells outside the gastroenteropancreatic system, or in their corresponding neoplasms, except for focal staining in one bronchial carcinoid tumour. In conclusion, the vast majority of EPTs examined expressed NP-2, suggesting its utility as a diagnostic marker for these tumours. The function of NP-2 in islet cell biology or tumourigenesis remains to be elucidated.
 ...
PMID:Neuropilin-2 is a novel marker expressed in pancreatic islet cells and endocrine pancreatic tumours. 1221 66