title: Evidence for the presence of ANP-precursor material in the rat thymus.
abstract: Acidic extraction of the thymus from two day old rats followed by purification on Sephadex G-50 gelfiltration revealed the presence of atrial natriuretic peptide-like material (IR-ANP) by radioimmunoassay. Verification of the obtained immunoreactivity has been achieved by the use of two different types of antisera, i.e. two antisera directed against ANP (99-126), the other antiserum recognizing the N-terminal fragment (11-37) of the precursor ANP (1-126) molecule. In addition, reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and high performance gel permeation chromatography (HP-GPC) monitored by the three antisera have been employed for analysis of the extracted IR-ANP. In both systems the IR-ANP corresponded to the 15 kDa-ANP molecule (1-126). Furthermore, by using immunohistochemical techniques a distinct localization of the IR-ANP material could be demonstrated. The outer cortical area of the thymus, containing mostly lymphoid cells, showed extensive immunostaining with the three different antisera. The data reported here indicate that the rat thymus is a source of ANP.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Pharmakologie, Toxikologie und Pharmazie, Universität München, FRG.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Vollmar
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schulz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000032:analysis*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D011498:Protein Precursors; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor