The nerves of the juxtaglomerular apparatus of man and other mammals contain the potent peptide NPY.
The juxtaglomerular apparatus, a neuroendocrine unit located in the vascular pole of the glomerulus and influencing blood pressure by the secretion of renin, is known to have a rich supply of monoaminergic nerve fibres. Neuropeptide Tyrosine (NPY), a newly discovered, potent, vasoconstrictor peptide of 36 amino acids, has been found by immunocytochemistry to be present in a dense plexus of fibres around the juxtaglomerular apparatus of man, monkey, mouse, hamster, rat and guinea pig. NPY-immunoreactivity was markedly depleted after chemical sympathectomy by 6-hydroxydopamine. The concentration of NPY within the whole mouse kidney was 29.6 +/- 6.8 pmol/g and fractionation of the extracts demonstrated that the NPY-like immunoreactivity co-eluted from the column in the same position as the porcine NPY standard. The role of this peptide in renal physiology and pathology now needs urgent investigation.
D000818:Animals; D006224:Cricetinae; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D000882:Haplorhini; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D007606:Juxtaglomerular Apparatus / Q000294:innervation*; D051379:Mice; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D009478:Neuropeptide Y; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000032:analysis; D011863:Radioimmunoassay / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D013552:Swine
D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009478:Neuropeptide Y; D009638:Norepinephrine