title: Distribution and development of proenkephalin-like immunoreactivity in the lumbar spinal cord of the chicken.
abstract: Met5-enkephalin- (Met-ENK), Leu5-enkephalin-, Met5-enkephalin-Arg6-Phe7-, metorphamide- and BAM 22P-like peptides could be detected in the lumbar spinal cord of the chicken by immunocytochemistry and/or high performance liquid chromatography. However, a peptide identical to Met5-enkephalin-Arg6-Gly7-Leu8 could not be detected in the lumbar spinal cord of the chicken using an antiserum that was capable of detecting the octapeptide in mammalian tissues. Nerve fiber- and terminal-like processes containing proenkephalin-derived peptides were concentrated in the superficial laminae of the dorsal horn and along the midline rostral to the central canal. A lesser concentration of processes containing proenkephalin-derived peptides occurred in the medial and lateral motor columns of the ventral horn. The level of total radioimmunoassayable Met-ENK in the lumbar spinal cord of the chicken embryo increased more than 1000-fold between day 4.5 and day 18. A schedule of curare administration that had previously been shown to prevent naturally occurring somatic motoneuron death in the chicken lumbar spinal cord resulted in a two-fold increase in total radioimmunoassayable Met-ENK in the lumbar spinal cord.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D002645:Chickens / Q000378:metabolism*; D004743:Enkephalin, Leucine / Q000378:metabolism; D004744:Enkephalin, Methionine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D004745:Enkephalins / Q000378:metabolism*; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000378:metabolism*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004745:Enkephalins; D011498:Protein Precursors; C029992:proenkephalin; D004744:Enkephalin, Methionine; D004743:Enkephalin, Leucine; C027511:enkephalin-Met, Arg(6)-Phe(7)-; C026771:BAM 12P; C039700:adrenorphin