Neurosecretion

Immunological identification of a common precursor to arginine vasopressin and neurophysin II synthesized by in vitro translation of bovine hypothalamic mRNA

mRNA from membrane-bound polysomes of bovine hypothalamus was translated in an mRNA-dependent cell-free system from reticulocyte lysate or wheat germ. The translation products were identified by immunoprecipitation with antibodies to either neurophysin II or arginine vasopressin followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. An immunoreactive polypeptide was obtained with an apparent Mr of 21,000. Sequential immunoprecipitation studies indicated that the Mr 21,000 product is a common precursor to neurophysin II and arginine vasopressin. The specificity of the immunoprecipitation was demonstrated by competition with excess amounts of unlabeled neurophysin II or arginine vasopressin; little or no competition was observed with unlabeled neurophysin II or arginine vasopressin; little or no competition was observed with unlabeled neurophysin I or oxytocin. Processing experiments with microsomal membranes from dog pancreas or tunicamycin-treated ascites tumor cells showed that the Mr 21,000 polypeptide is the prepro form. It was converted to a pro form with Mr 19,000 suggesting a pre sequence of approximately 15 amino acids. The Mr 19,000 polypeptide was coreglycosylated to an apparent Mr of 23,000, indicating that the neurophysin II-arginine vasopressin precursor is a glycopolypeptide.

Identification of the vasopressin-neurophysin II and the oxytocin-neurophysin I producing neurons in the bovine hypothalamus

Immuno-enzyme histochemical investigations on the bovine hypothalamus showed that vasopressin and oxytocin are synthetized in separate neurons. Moreover, it was found that the vasopressin-producing neurons are identical with the neruophysin II-producing neurons, while the oxtocin producing neurons correspond with the neurophysin I-producing neurons. From this result it is concluded that, in the species studied, neurophysin I is the carrier protein of oxytocin and that neurophysin II is the carrier protein of vasopressin. The bovine vasopressin-neurophysin II producing neurons and the oxytocin-neurophysin I producing neurons are both present as well in the suparoptic nuclei as in the paraventricular nuclei. In the supraoptic nuclei, the vasopressin-neurophysin II neurons predominate in number; in the paraventricular nuclei, the oxytocin-neurophysin II neurons predominate. The two kinds of bovine neurosecretory neurons are partly localized in separate areas. Moreover, the vasopressin-neurophysin II neurons and the oxytocin-neurophysin I neurons show distinct morphological differences.

Intra-axonal transport and turnover of neurohypophysial hormones in the rat

1. The specific radioactivities of isotopically pure oxytocin and vasopressin prepared from the neural lobe of the pituitary gland have been measured at various times after an intracisternal injection of [(3)H]tyrosine.2. Radioactive hormone began to appear in the gland 1-2 hr after the injection which suggests an intra-axonal transport velocity of 1-2 mm/hr.3. From 7 days onwards the specific radioactivity of each hormone declined exponentially with the same rate constant and a half-life of about 13 days.4. If the decline in radioactivity can be equated with the release of the hormones, the rates of secretion for the male rat in water balance are 18.7 m-u./day for oxytocin and 28.9 m-u./day for vasopressin.5. Calculation from the secretion rates gave steady-state plasma concentrations of about 3 muu./ml. for each hormone.

Condensing vacuole conversion and zymogen granule discharge in pancreatic exocrine cells: metabolic studies

We have examined, in the pancreatic exocrine cell, the metabolic requirements for the conversion of condensing vacuoles into zymogen granules and for the discharge of the contents of zymogen granules. To study condensing vacuole conversion, we pulse labeled guinea pig pancreatic slices for 4 min with leucine-(3)H and incubated them in chase medium for 20 min to allow labeled proteins to reach condensing vacuoles. Glycolytic and respiratory inhibitors were then added and incubation continued for 60 min to enable labeled proteins to reach granules in control slices. Electron microscope radioautography of cells or of zymogen granule pellets from treated slices showed that a large proportion of prelabeled condensing vacuoles underwent conversion in the presence of the combined inhibitors. Osmotic fragility studies on zymogen granule suspensions suggest that condensation may result from the aggregation of secretory proteins in an osmotically inactive form. Discharge was studied using an in vitro radioassay based on the finding that prelabeled zymogen granules can be induced to release their labeled contents to the incubation medium by carbamylcholine or pancreozymin. Induced discharge is not affected if protein synthesis is blocked by cycloheximide for up to 2 hr, but is strictly dependent on respiration. The data indicate that transport and discharge do not require the pari passu synthesis of secretory or nonsecretory proteins (e.g. membrane proteins), suggesting that the cell may reutilize its membranes during the secretory process. The energy requirements for zymogen discharge may be related to the fusion-fission of the granule membrane with the apical plasmalemma.