Characterization of the true ortholog of the urotensin II-related peptide (URP) gene in teleosts

A number of gastrin antisera, which in radioimmunoassay systems showed no or negligible cross-reactivity towards the structurally and functionally related peptide cholecystokinin were found to react with both gastrin and cholecystokinin cells when used for immunocytochemistry. This discrepancy was shown to be due either to reactivity against a COOH-terminal region common to gastrin and cholecystokinin or to the occurrence of heterogenous antibody populations in the antisera. By differential absorptions the latter type of antisera could be rendered specific for gastrin. Antisera reactive against the NH2-terminal, middle or COOH-terminal regions of human heptadecapeptide gastrin were prepared and together with a specific cholecystokinin antiserum used for the characterization of antral gastrin cells of different species. The results indicate that only the COOH-terminal region of gastrin is conserved during evolution.

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Urotensin receptor (version 2019.4) in the IUPHAR/BPS Guide to Pharmacology Database

IUPHAR/BPS Guide to Pharmacology CITE ◽

10.2218/gtopdb/f65/2019.4 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2019 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Anthony P. Davenport ◽

Stephen A. Douglas ◽

Alain Fournier ◽

Adel Giaid ◽

Henry Krum ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Amino Acids ◽

Amino Acid ◽

Neurosecretory System ◽

Urotensin Ii ◽

High Sequence Identity ◽

Caudal Neurosecretory System ◽

Amino Acid Peptide ◽

Related Peptide ◽

Human Sequence ◽

Mature Mouse

The urotensin-II (U-II) receptor (UT, nomenclature as agreed by the NC-IUPHAR Subcommittee on the Urotensin receptor [26, 36, 89]) is activated by the endogenous dodecapeptide urotensin-II, originally isolated from the urophysis, the endocrine organ of the caudal neurosecretory system of teleost fish [7, 88]. Several structural forms of U-II exist in fish and amphibians. The goby orthologue was used to identify U-II as the cognate ligand for the predicted receptor encoded by the rat gene gpr14 [20, 62, 68, 70]. Human urotensin-II, an 11-amino-acid peptide [20], retains the cyclohexapeptide sequence of goby U-II that is thought to be important in ligand binding [53, 11]. This sequence is also conserved in the deduced amino-acid sequence of rat urotensin-II (14 amino-acids) and mouse urotensin-II (14 amino-acids), although the N-terminal is more divergent from the human sequence [19]. A second endogenous ligand for the UT has been discovered in rat [83]. This is the urotensin II-related peptide, an octapeptide that is derived from a different gene, but shares the C-terminal sequence (CFWKYCV) common to U-II from other species. Identical sequences to rat urotensin II-related peptide are predicted for the mature mouse and human peptides [32]. UT exhibits relatively high sequence identity with somatostatin, opioid and galanin receptors [89].

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Age and Sex-Dependent Differences in the Neurochemical Characterization of Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide-Like Immunoreactive (CGRP-LI) Nervous Structures in the Porcine Descending Colon

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms20051024 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (5) ◽

pp. 1024 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Krystyna Makowska ◽

Slawomir Gonkowski

Keyword(s):

Calcitonin Gene Related Peptide ◽

Colonic Wall ◽

Related Peptide ◽

Calcitonin Gene ◽

Adaptive Processes ◽

Descending Colon ◽

And Gender ◽

Oxide Synthase

Neurons of the enteric nervous system (ENS) may undergo changes during maturation and aging, but knowledge of physiological stimuli-dependent changes in the ENS is still fragmentary. On the other hand, the frequency of many ENS-related intestinal illnesses depends on age and/or sex. The double immunofluorescence technique was used to study the influence of both of these factors on calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)—positive enteric nervous structures—in the descending colon in young and adult female and castrated male pigs. The influence of age and gender on the number and neurochemical characterization (i.e., co-localization of CGRP with substance P, nitric oxide synthase, galanin, cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript peptide and vesicular acetylcholine transporter) of CGRP-positive nerve structures in the colonic wall has been shown. These observations strongly suggest the participation of CGRP in adaptive processes in the ENS during GI tract maturation. Moreover, although the castration of males may mask some aspects of sex-dependent influences on the ENS, the sex-specific differences in CGRP-positive nervous structures were mainly visible in adult animals. This may suggest that the distribution and exact role of this substance in the ENS depend on the sex hormones.

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