Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P61278 (somatostatin)
 22,083 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Astrocytes were prepared from rats of 4 ages, embryonic day 20, postnatal days 3 and 8, and adult, in order to study the developmental time course of expression of enkephalin and somatostatin (SS). Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) content was constant in both cortical and cerebellar astrocytes prepared from all ages. SS mRNA and peptide decreased over this developmental time course in cerebellar astrocytes; the time course of changes in SS mRNA paralleled that for rat cerebellum. Proenkephalin (PE) mRNA increased about 3-fold in cerebellar astrocytes from embryonic day 20 to adult but remained constant in cortical astrocytes; in contrast, PE mRNA showed a 10- to 12-fold increase in rat cerebellum and cortex developmentally. For both cerebellar and cortical astrocytes, free met-enkephalin decreased from embryonic day 20 to adult, whereas total met-enkephalin (measured following trypsin-carboxypeptidase B digestion of the extracts) increased. These results suggest (1) that there is a developmental regulation of the expression of both enkephalin and SS peptides in astrocytes, and (2) that the regulation occurs at the level of transcription for SS but at the level of precursor processing for PE. Possible trophic functions for astrocyte-derived peptides early in CNS development are discussed.
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PMID:Developmental expression of the proenkephalin and prosomatostatin genes in cultured cortical and cerebellar astrocytes. 135 15

Developmental patterns for rat pancreatic opioid peptides and islet hormones were studied from gestational day 20 through adulthood. Fetal tissue was obtained as well as pancreas at birth (day 0), and postnatal days 3, 7, 14, and 21, and 7 weeks. The hormones measured included insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin. The opioids measured were beta-endorphin, Met- and Leu-enkephalins, and the high molecular weight enkephalin precursors. Pancreata were pooled as necessary and extracted (acid alcohol, or hot acetic acid), and opioids were further purified on reversed-phase C-18 (Sep-pak) cartridges. In all instances measurements were made by radioimmunoassays. Precursor peptides were first digested (with trypsin and carboxypeptidase B) prior to immunoassay. All opioids and hormones except the precursors for enkephalins showed a well-defined surge in pancreatic concentration during the first postnatal week. In contrast, the precursors had the highest concentration in the fetus, and by the seventh day of life had decreased by greater than 50%. This progressive decrease may represent maturation of the enkephalin convertase and trypsin-like enzymes in the islets. The opioid and hormonal surges that we have described are similar to the surge in islet concentration of thyroid-releasing hormone (TRH) previously described in neonatal rat islets. It is suggested that these postnatal alterations in opioid and hormone concentration relate to a specific function in the development of the endocrine pancreas.
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PMID:Developmental patterns for pancreatic opioids in the rat. 253 May 76

Enkephalin convertase (carboxypeptidase E,H; EC 3.4.17.10) is a carboxypeptidase B-like enzyme which appears to be physiologically associated with the biosynthesis of the enkephalins and certain other peptides. We have localized enkephalin convertase in the brain and other tissues autoradiographically by labeling studies with [3H]guanidinoethylmercaptosuccinic acid ([3H]GEMSA). In the brain, [3H]GEMSA localizations parallel enkephalin distribution but with certain exceptions, suggesting a role in relation to other peptides. In the pancreas, [3H]GEMSA binding sites are localized to the islets suggesting an involvement in insulin, glucagon, or somatostatin formation. The selective concentration of [3H]GEMSA grains in cardiac atria suggests a link to atrial natriuretic factor.
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PMID:Enkephalin convertase: characterization and localization using [3H]guanidinoethylmercaptosuccinic acid. 313 43

Many small biologicaly active peptides are derived from larger precursor forms which fulfil a variety of roles in the synthesis, segregation and intracellular migration of secretory products. Limited proteolysis may occur at several stages during this process, giving rise to products that are either degraded (e.g. the prepeptides) or discharged coordinately from their cells of origin during exocytosis (e.g. insulin and C-peptide). Molecular defects have recently been found to occur at cleavage sites in proinsulin as well as in other proproteins, and these point mutations may, in some instances, be responsible for familial metabolic disorders. The nature and cell specificity of the proteolytic enzymes involved in the conversion of the various precursor forms remains unresolved. Recent studies in our laboratory have led to the identification of precursors of glucagon and somatostatin in rat islets of Langerhans. Analysis of tryptic maps of these precursors has shown that a trypsin-like enzyme would be sufficient to cleave the C-terminally located somatostatin sequence from its precursor (relative molecular mass 12,500), but that both trypsin-like and carboxypeptidase B-like enzymes would be necessary to cleave the internal glucagon sequence from its prohormone (relative molecular mass 18,000). Molecular cloning techniques have provided valuable new approaches to analysing the structures of a variety of precursor forms, including those for insulin, gastrin, growth hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone and the endorphins, and in the future will undoubtedly shed more light on the structures of their chromosomal genes, the mechanisms regulating their expression, and their evolutionary origins.
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PMID:Formation of biologically active peptides. 610 30