Observations on humans and experimental animals with localized hypothalamic lesions led to the earliest notions about the role of the lateral hypothalamus (LH). From studying patients with encephalitis lethargica, von Economo [1] proposed that the posterior hypothalamus (including the LH) was required for maintaining the awake state. The signaling molecules and circuitry responsible for this ob...

Recently we have reported synergistic effects between glycine-extended gastrin (G-gly) and amidated gastrin-17 on acid secretion in short-term infusion studies. In the present study, we examined the long-term effect of G-gly on the atrophy-promoting effects of amidated gastrin in the mouse stomach with or without Helicobacter infection. Transgenic mice overexpressing amidated gastrin (INS-GAS m...

By screening extracts of venom from the Asian scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch (BmK) for their abilities to activate opioid receptors, we have identified BmK-YA, an amidated peptide containing an enkephalin-like sequence. BmK-YA is encoded by a precursor that displays a signal sequence and contains four copies of BmK-YA sequences and four of His(4)-BmK-YA, all flanked by single amino acid resid...

FABMS analysis of T-lb peptide before and after one cycle of Edman degradation indicated an unblocked N-terminal Thr residue for this tryptic peptide. In contrast , our data showed a molecular protonated ion, MH + for T- la peptide at 655 mass units (mu) which is 42 mu higher than the MH ion of T- 1b peptide. In addition, T- la peptide was not amenable to one cycle of manual Edman degrada...

fabms analysis of t-lb peptide before and after one cycle of edman degradation indicated an unblocked n-terminal thr residue for this tryptic peptide. in contrast , our data showed a molecular protonated ion, mh + for t- la peptide at 655 mass units (mu) which is 42 mu higher than the mh ion of t- 1b peptide. in addition, t- la peptide was not amenable to one cycle of manual edman degradation. ...

Two classes of paralytic toxins were isolated from the venom of Agelenopsis aperta and their chemical and larvicidal properties characterized. Five acylpolyamine toxins (alpha-agatoxins) of molecular masses 452, 488, 489, 504, and 505 Da produce immediate but reversible paralysis in Manduca sexta following injection. Six insecticidal peptides (mu-agatoxins) produce a gradual but irreversible pa...

The development of the prototype synthetic delta-opioid receptor antagonist peptides TIPP [(H-Tyr-Tic-Phe- Phe-OH); Tic: tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid] and TIPPpsi (H-Tyr-psiTic-Phe-Phe-OH) by Schiller and coworkers was followed by extensive structure-activity relationship studies, leading to the emergence of numerous analogs that are of pharmacological interest. Eight novel diastere...

High magnetic field solid-state NMR was performed on amphipathic cationic antimicrobial peptides from fish to characterize their secondary structure and orientation in hydrated phospholipid bilayers. High-resolution distance and orientational restraints on 13C- and 15N-labeled amidated piscidins 1 and 3 provided site-specific information establishing alpha-helicity and an orientation parallel t...

Preproghrelin is a prohormone producing several preproghrelin-derived peptides with structural and functional heterogeneity: acyl ghrelin (AG), desacyl ghrelin (DAG), and obestatin. The absence of selective and reliable assays to measure these peptides simultaneously in biological samples has been a limitation to assess their real proportions in tissues and plasma in physiological and pathologi...

BACKGROUND Amidation of the carboxyl terminal of many peptides is essential for full biological potency, often increasing receptor binding and stability. The single enzyme responsible for this reaction is peptidylglycine α-amidating monooxygenase (PAM: EC 1.14.17.3), a copper- and ascorbate-dependent Type I membrane protein. METHODS To make large amounts of high molecular weight amidated prod...