scholarly journals Characterization of Novel RFamide Peptides in the Central Nervous System of the Brown Hagfish: Isolation, Localization, and Functional Analysis

Endocrinology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 152 (11) ◽  
pp. 4252-4264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomohiro Osugi ◽  
Katsuhisa Uchida ◽  
Masumi Nozaki ◽  
Kazuyoshi Tsutsui

RFamide (RFa) peptides play various important roles in the central nervous system in both invertebrates and vertebrates. However, there is no evidence of the existence of any RFamide peptide in the brain of hagfish, one of the oldest lineages of vertebrates. In this study, we sought to identify novel RFamide peptides from the brains of hagfish (Paramyxine atami). We identified four novel RFamide peptides, which had the C-terminal Pro-Gln-Arg-Phe-NH2 structure. cDNA cloning revealed that the identified RFamide peptides are encoded in two types of cDNA. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the two precursors indicated that the hagfish RFamide peptides belong to the PQRFamide peptide group that includes mammalian neuropeptide FF and AF. Based on immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization, hagfish PQRFamide peptide precursor mRNA and its translated peptides were localized in the infundibular nucleus of the hypothalamus. Immunoreactive fibers were terminated on blood vessels in the infundibular nucleus. Dense immunoreactive fibers were also observed in other brain regions. We further showed that one of the hagfish PQRFamide peptides significantly stimulated the expression of gonadotropin-β mRNA in the cultured hagfish pituitary. These results indicate that the control mechanism of gonadotropin expression by a hypothalamic neuropeptide evolved in the agnathan brain. This is the first evidence describing the identification of RFamide peptides in the hagfish brain. This is also the first report showing the regulation of gonadotropin expression by a homolog of neuropeptide FF that belongs to the PQRFamide peptide group in any vertebrate.

Author(s):  
Isidro Badillo-Ramírez ◽  
Jose Saniger ◽  
Juergen Popp ◽  
Dana Cialla-May

Dopamine (DA) regulates several functions in the central nervous system and its depletion is responsible for psychological disorder like Parkinson´s disease. Several analytical approaches have been presented for DA detection...


Genetics ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 1033-1044 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Watanabe ◽  
D R Kankel

Abstract Previous genetic studies have shown that wild-type function of the l(1)ogre (lethal (1) optic ganglion reduced) locus is essential for the generation and/or maintenance of the postembryonic neuroblasts including those from which the optic lobe is descended. In the present study molecular isolation and characterization of the l(1)ogre locus was carried out to study the structure and expression of this gene in order to gain information about the nature of l(1)ogre function and its relevance to the development of the central nervous system. About 70 kilobases (kb) of genomic DNA were isolated that spanned the region where l(1)ogre was known to reside. Southern analysis of a l(1)ogre mutation and subsequent P element-mediated DNA transformation mapped the l(1)ogre+ function within a genomic fragment of 12.5 kb. Northern analyses showed that a 2.9-kb message transcribed from this 12.5-kb region represented l(1)ogre. A 2.15-kb portion of a corresponding cDNA clone was sequenced. An open reading frame (ORF) of 1,086 base paris was found, and a protein sequence of 362 amino acids with one highly hydrophobic segment was deduced from conceptual translation of this ORF.


Author(s):  
Marleen H. van Coevorden-Hameete ◽  
Maarten J. Titulaer ◽  
Marco W. J. Schreurs ◽  
Esther de Graaff ◽  
Peter A. E. Sillevis Smitt ◽  
...  

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (11) ◽  
pp. 1515-1518 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Skrajny ◽  
R. S. Hannah ◽  
S. H. Roth

The central nervous system is one of the primary target organs for hydrogen sulphide (H2S) toxicity; however, there are limited data on the neurotoxic effects of low-dose chronic exposure on the developing nervous system. Levels of serotonin and norepinephrine in the developing rat cerebellum and frontal cortex were determined following chronic exposure to 20 and 75 ppm H2S during perinatal development. Both monoamines were altered in rats exposed to 75 ppm H2S compared with controls; serotonin levels were significantly increased at days 14 and 21 postnatal in both brain regions, and norepinephrine levels were significantly increased at days 7, 14, and 21 postnatal in cerebellum and at day 21 in the frontal cortex. Exposure to 20 ppm H2S significantly increased the levels of serotonin in the frontal cortex at day 21, whereas levels of norepinephrine were significantly reduced in the frontal cortex at days 14 and 21, and at day 14 in the cerebellum.Key words: hydrogen sulphide, monoamines, serotonin, norepinephrine, neurotoxicity.


1981 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 394-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jau-Nan Lee ◽  
Markku Seppälä ◽  
Tim Chard

Abstract. High pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and radioimmunoassay were employed to characterize luteinizing hormone-releasing factor (LRF)-like material in the human placenta. Methanol extracts of the placenta were washed with acetic acid and chloroform, further purified on coarse octadecylsilane columns, fractionated on HPLC, and tested by radioimmunoassay. In HPLC, placental LRF had the same retention time as synthetic LRF, and such fractions gave an inhibition curve which was parallel to that of synthetic LRF in radioimmunoassav. It is concluded that human placental I.RF is similar or identical to LRF in the central nervous system.


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