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- Author: G W Tregear x
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Abstract
Relaxin is a peptide hormone which has a variety of physiological effects on tissues of the reproductive tract as well as other organs such as the heart and brain. Whereas all non-primates so far examined have only a single relaxin gene, humans have two genes (H1 and H2, or gene 1 and gene 2). H2 relaxin is synthesized in the corpus luteum during pregnancy and is also found in the placenta and prostate, whereas expression of H1 has been very difficult to detect. We have begun a study of relaxin genes in the chimpanzee to assess whether this species may provide a suitable model in which to examine the roles of gene 1 relaxin. We find that the chimpanzee has two relaxin genes, one of which is very similar to H2. The second gene has an gene 1 type A chain but the B chain is of the gene 2 type, possibly due to a gene conversion event. The authentic chimpanzee gene 2 (Ch2) is expressed in the corpus luteum of pregnancy and in the placenta. Ch1 is not expressed in the placenta, but the mRNA can be detected by polymerase chain reaction in the corpus luteum.
Journal of Endocrinology (1994) 140, 385–392
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ABSTRACT
Infusion of bovine parathyroid hormone (bPTH) preparations into the arterial blood supply of the vascularly isolated parotid gland in anaesthetized sheep increases salivary phosphate concentration and gland blood flow rate with rapid onset and offset of action. These responses have been used as a bioassay for PTH and PTH analogues and for assessing the properties of an in-vitro inhibitory analogue [Nle-8, Nle-18, Tyr-34]bPTH-(3–34)amide. [Nle-8, Nle-18, Tyr-34]bPTH-(1–34)amide at 10− 9 to 10 −8 mol/l was four to five times more potent than bPTH(1–34) on both salivary phosphate and blood flow assays. Human PTH(1–34) was not significantly more potent than bPTH(1–34). The [Nle-8, Nle-18, Tyr-34]bPTH-(3–34)amide analogue had very slight agonist activity at 3 × 10−7 mol/l and at a 100:1 ratio of analogue to PTH it completely inhibited the action of bPTH(1–34) on phosphate secretion and gland blood flow. It caused partial inhibition at 10:1 and had no evident effect at 1:1. These results differ from previous in-vitro results and indicate that the preparation may be valuable for evaluation of agonist and antagonist analogues of PTH. The vascularly isolated parotid gland of the sheep permits repeated random testing of analogues in a control–test–control sequence and the results indicate high sensitivity to PTH in a rapidly reactive invivo system with two responding parameters.
J. Endocr. (1984) 102, 375–379
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Administration of bovine parathyroid hormone (PTH) preparations increased the phosphate concentration in the parotid saliva of sheep. Data on the site of action of PTH (1–84) were obtained by (a) equimolar infusions of PTH (1–84) and (1–34) directly into the arterial blood supply of the vascularly isolated parotid gland in anaesthetized sheep, (b) intravenous infusion of PTH (1–84) at a similar rate and (c) intra-arterial infusion of PTH (1–84) with complete drainage of the venous effluent from the gland during the infusion. Results showed substantial time– and dose–response identity of the two peptides, at 10−9 to 4 × 10−9 mol/l in arterial blood, in raising salivary phosphate concentration. The effect of PTH (1–84) was not due to recirculated fragments because the response was obtained when recirculation was prevented by complete venous drainage and little or no response occurred when the same infusion was given i.v.
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SUMMARY
Adenylate cyclase activity of crude plasma membranes from chick kidney was stimulated by low doses of parathyroid hormone (PTH). Sensitivity to PTH was ten to twenty times greater than that of a similar preparation from rat kidney cortex. Synthetic peptides consisting of the NH2-terminal 34 amino acids of bovine PTH (BPTH) and of human PTH (HPTH) were assayed, as were several analogues of these peptides. Bovine PTH (1–34) and HPTH (1–34) were equivalent in their action on chick kidney but the human peptide had only 20% of the activity of the bovine peptide on rat kidney cortex adenylate cyclase. Bovine proPTH ( −6→ + 34) and (Tyr1)-BPTH (1–34) had less activity than BPTH (1–34). Bovine PTH (2–34) inhibited the response to BPTH (1–34). Neither salmon calcitonin nor vasopressin stimulated adenylate cyclase activity.
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ABSTRACT
Synthetic ovine corticotrophin-releasing factor (oCRF) was infused continuously into the jugular veins of six ovine fetuses for 5–11 days. Two fetuses receiving 0·1 and 1·0 μg oCRF/h from gestational days 134 and 135 respectively, lambed prematurely on days 141 and 140 respectively. Three out of four fetuses receiving oCRF at 2·4 μg/h, from 125 days of gestation, delivered spontaneously at 131, 131 and 136 days, whilst one died in utero at 132 days. Two fetuses receiving vehicle only or oCRF intra-amniotically, were born at 148 and 145 days respectively, whilst six fetuses chronically cannulated but not infused were born at 149·8 ±2·1 (s.d.) days. In ewes lambing at term, maternal plasma progesterone concentrations were 41·4±11·4 (s.e.m.; n = 5), 28·8±7·8 (n = 6), 17·1 ±4·8 (n = 5) and 7·9± 1·1 (n = 4) nmol/l on 3, 2, 1 and 0 days respectively before the lambs were born. No such decrease in maternal plasma progesterone concentrations was seen in the oCRF-infused fetuses. Fetal plasma concentrations of immunoreactive ACTH were maintained above normal in oCRF-infused fetuses, but some desensitization to bolus oCRF injections occurred in these fetuses. Four of the five fetuses born prematurely were sufficiently mature to survive, being able to stand, breathe and suckle. It is concluded that continuous oCRF infusions into immature fetuses can accelerate maturation of a number of organs and systems culminating in the premature delivery of viable lambs.
J. Endocr. (1986) 111, 469–475
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ABSTRACT
The neurohypophysial hormones oxytocin and arginine vasopressin (AVP) have been identified on immunological criteria in the ovary. Confirmation of extraneuronal synthesis requires the demonstration in the tissue of the specific messenger RNA (mRNA) for the preprohormone. Using a synthetic pentadecamer nucleotide probe, highly specific for the 5′ region of rat neurophysin II (NPII), we have demonstrated the presence of AVP-NPII mRNA in the ovary of Sprague–Dawley, Long–Evans and Brattleboro rats, with an apparent molecular weight identical to that seen for hypothalamus. These findings, together with the presence of immunoreactive AVP in the ovaries but not hypothalami of Brattleboro rats, suggest that tissue-specific differences in AVP-NP II gene expression occur at the translational as well as transcriptional level.
J. Endocr. (1985) 105, 317–321
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The immunological properties of a synthetic peptide comprising the carboxyl-terminal 53–84 region of human parathyroid hormone (PTH) have been studied. The immunoreactivity of the synthetic human PTH-(53–84) peptide paralleled that of a 53–84 fragment of the native human hormone prepared by enzymic digestion, in both a standard radioimmunoassay, which was not region-specific, and also a radioimmunoassay specific for the carboxyl-terminal region of PTH. However, in both types of radioimmunoassay the synthetic human PTH-(53–84) peptide was four to five times more reactive than the native human PTH-(53–84) fragment.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
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Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
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Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
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Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
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Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
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Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
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Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
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Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
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Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
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Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 8 (LGR8, or RXFP2) is a member of the type C leucine-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor family, and its endogenous ligand is insulin-like peptide-3 (INSL3). Although LGR8 expression has been demonstrated in various human tissues, including testis, ovary, brain and kidney, the precise roles of this receptor in many of these tissues are unknown. In an effort to better understand INSL3–LGR8 systems in the rat, we cloned the full-length Lgr8 cDNA and investigated the presence and cellular localization of Lgr8 mRNA expression in adult and developing rat kidney. On the basis of these findings, we investigated the presence and distribution of renal 125I-labelled human INSL3-binding sites and the nature of INSL3–LGR8 signalling in cultured renal cells. Thus, using in situ hybridization histochemistry, cells expressing Lgr8 mRNA were observed in glomeruli of renal cortex from adult rats and were tentatively identified as mesangial cells. Quantitative, real-time PCR analysis of the developmental profile of Lgr8 mRNA expression in kidney revealed highest relative levels at late stage gestation (embryonic day 18), with a sharp decrease after birth and lowest levels in the adult. During development, silver grains associated with Lgr8 mRNA hybridization were observed overlying putative mesangial cells in mature glomeruli, with little or no signal associated with less-mature glomeruli. In adult and developing kidney, specific 125I-INSL3-binding sites were associated with glomeruli throughout the renal cortex. In primary cultures of glomerular cells, synthetic human INSL3 specifically and dose-dependently inhibited cell proliferation over a 48 h period, further suggesting the presence of functional LGR8 (receptors) on these cells (mesangial and others). These findings suggest INSL3–LGR8 signalling may be involved in the genesis and/or developmental maturation of renal glomeruli and possibly in regulating mesangial cell density in adult rat kidney.
