The levels of intracellular cAMP in human myometrial smooth muscle cells in serum-free medium, or medium that contained FBS (1%, vol/vol), were determined after treatment with the homologous peptides, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), adrenomedullin (ADM), and amylin, without or with added isobutylmethylxanthine (IBMX). These cells were sensitive to CGRP, responding in a dose-dependent ma...

Salvage of cholinergic neurons in the brain through a blockade of the neurotoxic effects of amyloid protein (A ) is one of the major, but still elusive, therapeutic goals of current research in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). To date, no receptor has been unequivocally identified for A . Human amylin, which acts via a receptor composed of the calcitonin receptor-like receptor and a receptor-associate...

Calcitonin (CT) is a polypeptide hormone with 32 aminoacids syntetized primarily by the thyroid. Several evidences support the existence of nonthyroidal CT like peptide. The CT gene transcript also encodes a distinct peptide known as calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) which is a potent vasodilator and responsible for the stimulation of the glomerular filtration rate. In addition, a 37 amino...

Insulin-like growth factors (IGF-I and IGF-II) are well known trophic factors and their specific receptors are uniquely distributed throughout the brain, being especially concentrated in the hippocampal formation. IGFs possess neurotrophic activities in the hippocampus, an area severely affected in Alzheimer disease. These data, together with the evidence that beta-amyloid (Abeta)-derived pepti...