Expression of porcine pro-opiomelanocortin cDNA in heterologous monkey kidney cells. Biosynthesis and secretion of the prohormone without processing.
Pro-opiomelanocortin is the common precursor to several pituitary hormones. These include alpha-melanotropic hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, beta-lipotropic hormone, and beta-endorphin. The porcine pro-opiomelanocortin cDNA was inserted downstream from the early promoter of a SV40-derived expression vector and transfected into the monkey kidney COS-1 cells. Transient expression of the pro-opiomelanocortin cDNA was observed between 48 and 70 h after transfection. Analysis of pro-opiomelanocortin-related material in COS-1 cell extracts and culture medium revealed that these cells synthesize and secrete constitutively pro-opiomelanocortin without further processing into its mature hormones. Our results suggest that COS-1 cells do not contain the necessary enzymatic machinery to process complex precursors such as pro-opiomelanocortin.
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism*; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D000882:Haplorhini; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism*; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D013552:Swine
D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin; D004247:DNA; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes