We show that Cloudman melanoma cells undergo rapid arborization in response to [Nle4,D-Phe7]alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, a potent analogue of alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH). The arbors were established by extension of processes and resembled dendrites. We used this system to study the regulation of cell shape. alpha-MSH is known to induce increases in cAMP levels, and...

Agouti-related protein (AGRP) is an endogenous antagonist of melanocortin action that functions in the hypothalamic control of feeding behavior. Although previous studies have shown that AGRP binds three of the five known subtypes of melanocortin receptor, the receptor domains participating in binding and the molecular interactions involved are presently unknown. The present studies were design...

Low doses (50-200 pg or 3.1-12.4 fmol) of interleukin 1 (IL-1) infused into the brain of rats produced rapid suppression of various cellular immune responses in peripheral lymphocytes of rats. Fifteen minutes after infusion of purified IL-1 beta into the lateral ventricle, natural killer cell activity, response to phytohemagglutinin stimulation, and interleukin 2 production were markedly suppre...

Cells of the C3 clone of B-16 melanoma synthesize melanin only at confluence after which they senesce and can no longer be passaged. Addition to the cultures of 10(-8)--10(-7) M 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) shortly after plating delayed by about 2 days the onset of melanogenesis. TPA did not, however, affect the growth of the cells or the time at which they reached confluence. The...

MELANOMA CELLS EXPRESS A PHENOTYPE THAT IS EASY TO RECOGNIZE: the synthesis of melanin. We used this marker to isolate clones of amelanotic variants from large populations of wild-type melanotic clones. Cloudman mouse melanoma (S91, clone M-3, CCL 53.1) was chosen as the parental line because the cells are highly pigmented, grow well as clones in soft agar, and fuse readily with Sendai virus. S...

OBJECTIVE alpha-Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH), beta-endorphin and other pro-opiomelanocortin-(POMC) derived peptides have been detected in the heart, but it is uncertain whether they are synthesized by cardiomyocytes or by cardiac nerves innervating the heart. The objective of this study was to determine whether POMC peptides are synthesized by cardiomyocytes. METHODS Pro-opiomel...

The immunohistochemical identification of neuropeptides (calcitonin gene-related peptide, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, substance P, alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone and gamma-melanocyte stimulating hormone) quantification of mast cells and their subsets (tryptase/chymase-immunoreactive mast cells = TCMC and tryptase-immunoreactive mast cells = TMC) were determined in biopsies of six p...

Skin color is one of the most visible and important phenotypes of modern humans. Melanocyte-stimulating hormone and its receptor played an important role in regulating skin color. In this article, we present evidence of Neanderthal introgression encompassing the melanocyte-stimulating hormone receptor gene MC1R. The haplotypes from Neanderthal introgression diverged with the Altai Neanderthal 1...

introduction: follicle stimulating hormone (fsh) is one of the pituitary glycoproteines that it consists of two subunits alpha and beta. the beta subunit is responsible for the biological activity of fsh. the aim of present study was isolation of the β subunit coding sequence containing its signal sequence from human genome and then cloning of the isolated sequence in ppic9 shuttle vector under...