A new family of growth and differentiation factors derived from the N-terminal domain of proopiomelanocortin (N-POMC).
There is a large body of in vitro evidence that pituitary function is not only dependent on hormonal signals from the brain but also on paracrine signals produced in the tissue itself. These signals appear to be involved in the control of pituitary hormone secretion as well as in pituitary cell differentiation and development (for review see Denef C. Paracrine mechanisms in the pituitary. In: Imura H, editor. The pituitary gland, 2nd ed. Raven Press, 1994: 351-378; Denef C. Autocrine/paracrine intermediates in hormone action and modulation of cellular responses to hormones. In: Conn M, editor. Handbook of Physiology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998 (in press)). The paracrine factors which have been identified in the pituitary belong to diverse biological molecules such as neuropeptides, acetylcholine, growth factors, cytokines and posttranslationally modified derivatives of pituitary hormone such as cleaved prolactin (PRL) and the gonadotropin alpha-subunit. Recently, we have identified several N-terminal fragments of the polypeptide proopiomelanocortin (POMC) as a novel family of growth and differentiation factors in the rat anterior pituitary.
Denef
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C
Laboratory of Cell Pharmacology, University of Leuven, Medical School, Belgium. Carl.Denef@med.kuleuven.ac.be
Van Bael
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A
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D006133:Growth Substances / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000502:physiology; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats
D006133:Growth Substances; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin