Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1988 Feb;85(4):1065–1069. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.4.1065

Tissue-specific expression of the rat galanin gene.

L M Kaplan 1, E R Spindel 1, K J Isselbacher 1, W W Chin 1
PMCID: PMC279702  PMID: 2448788

Abstract

We have isolated and characterized cDNAs encoding rat galanin from a cDNA library prepared from rat hypothalamic tissue. Analysis of these clones reveals that rat galanin is synthesized initially as part of a 124-amino acid precursor that includes a signal peptide, galanin (29 amino acids), and a 60-amino acid galanin mRNA-associated peptide. In the precursor, galanin includes a C-terminal glycine and is flanked on each side by dibasic tryptic cleavage sites. The deduced amino acid sequence of rat galanin is 90% similar to porcine galanin, with all three amino acid differences in the C-terminal heptapeptide. The predicted galanin mRNA-associated peptide includes a 35-amino acid sequence that is 78% similar to the previously reported porcine analogue. This sequence is set off by a single basic tryptic cleavage site and includes a 17-amino acid region that is nearly identical to the porcine counterpart. The high interspecies conservation suggests a biological role for this putative peptide. Blot hybridization analysis using rat genomic DNA is consistent with a single galanin-encoding gene. RNA blot analysis of total RNA prepared from rat tissues reveals a single band of hybridizing mRNA that is approximately 900 nucleotides long. Rat galanin mRNA is located predominantly in the central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract. Highest central nervous system concentrations are found in the hypothalamus, with lower levels in the cortex and brainstem. Gastrointestinal rat galanin mRNA is most abundant in the duodenum, with progressively lower concentrations in the stomach, small intestine, and colon.

Full text

PDF
1065

Images in this article

1068Image
on p.1068
1068Image
on p.1068

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Amiranoff B., Servin A. L., Rouyer-Fessard C., Couvineau A., Tatemoto K., Laburthe M. Galanin receptors in a hamster pancreatic beta-cell tumor: identification and molecular characterization. Endocrinology. 1987 Jul;121(1):284–289. doi: 10.1210/endo-121-1-284. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bauer F. E., Adrian T. E., Yanaihara N., Polak J. M., Bloom S. R. Chromatographic evidence for high-molecular-mass galanin immunoreactivity in pig and cat adrenal glands. FEBS Lett. 1986 Jun 9;201(2):327–331. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(86)80633-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Buchanan J. T., Brodin L., Hökfelt T., Van Dongen P. A., Grillner S. Survey of neuropeptide-like immunoreactivity in the lamprey spinal cord. Brain Res. 1987 Apr 7;408(1-2):299–302. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(87)90392-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Ch'ng J. L., Christofides N. D., Anand P., Gibson S. J., Allen Y. S., Su H. C., Tatemoto K., Morrison J. F., Polak J. M., Bloom S. R. Distribution of galanin immunoreactivity in the central nervous system and the responses of galanin-containing neuronal pathways to injury. Neuroscience. 1985 Oct;16(2):343–354. doi: 10.1016/0306-4522(85)90007-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dunning B. E., Ahren B., Veith R. C., Böttcher G., Sundler F., Taborsky G. J., Jr Galanin: a novel pancreatic neuropeptide. Am J Physiol. 1986 Jul;251(1 Pt 1):E127–E133. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.1986.251.1.E127. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Grantham R., Gautier C., Gouy M., Jacobzone M., Mercier R. Codon catalog usage is a genome strategy modulated for gene expressivity. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Jan 10;9(1):r43–r74. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.1.213-b. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Koshiyama H., Kato Y., Inoue T., Murakami Y., Ishikawa Y., Yanaihara N., Imura H. Central galanin stimulates pituitary prolactin secretion in rats: possible involvement of hypothalamic vasoactive intestinal polypeptide. Neurosci Lett. 1987 Mar 20;75(1):49–54. doi: 10.1016/0304-3940(87)90073-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kyrkouli S. E., Stanley B. G., Leibowitz S. F. Galanin: stimulation of feeding induced by medial hypothalamic injection of this novel peptide. Eur J Pharmacol. 1986 Mar 11;122(1):159–160. doi: 10.1016/0014-2999(86)90175-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Maxam A. M., Gilbert W. Sequencing end-labeled DNA with base-specific chemical cleavages. Methods Enzymol. 1980;65(1):499–560. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(80)65059-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Melander T., Hökfelt T., Rökaeus A. Distribution of galaninlike immunoreactivity in the rat central nervous system. J Comp Neurol. 1986 Jun 22;248(4):475–517. doi: 10.1002/cne.902480404. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Melton D. A., Krieg P. A., Rebagliati M. R., Maniatis T., Zinn K., Green M. R. Efficient in vitro synthesis of biologically active RNA and RNA hybridization probes from plasmids containing a bacteriophage SP6 promoter. Nucleic Acids Res. 1984 Sep 25;12(18):7035–7056. doi: 10.1093/nar/12.18.7035. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Messing J. New M13 vectors for cloning. Methods Enzymol. 1983;101:20–78. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(83)01005-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Nordström O., Melander T., Hökfelt T., Bartfai T., Goldstein M. Evidence for an inhibitory effect of the peptide galanin on dopamine release from the rat median eminence. Neurosci Lett. 1987 Jan 2;73(1):21–26. doi: 10.1016/0304-3940(87)90024-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Ottlecz A., Samson W. K., McCann S. M. Galanin: evidence for a hypothalamic site of action to release growth hormone. Peptides. 1986 Jan-Feb;7(1):51–53. doi: 10.1016/0196-9781(86)90060-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Perlman D., Halvorson H. O. A putative signal peptidase recognition site and sequence in eukaryotic and prokaryotic signal peptides. J Mol Biol. 1983 Jun 25;167(2):391–409. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(83)80341-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Rökaeus A., Brownstein M. J. Construction of a porcine adrenal medullary cDNA library and nucleotide sequence analysis of two clones encoding a galanin precursor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Sep;83(17):6287–6291. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.17.6287. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Servin A. L., Amiranoff B., Rouyer-Fessard C., Tatemoto K., Laburthe M. Identification and molecular characterization of galanin receptor sites in rat brain. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1987 Apr 14;144(1):298–306. doi: 10.1016/s0006-291x(87)80510-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Silvestre R. A., Miralles P., Monge L., Moreno P., Villanueva M. L., Marco J. Effects of galanin on hormone secretion from the in situ perfused rat pancreas and on glucose production in rat hepatocytes in vitro. Endocrinology. 1987 Jul;121(1):378–383. doi: 10.1210/endo-121-1-378. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Silvestre R. A., Miralles P., Monge L., Villanueva M. L., Marco J. Inhibitory effect of galanin on pancreatic polypeptide release by the perfused rat pancreas. Life Sci. 1987 May 4;40(18):1829–1833. doi: 10.1016/0024-3205(87)90094-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Skofitsch G., Jacobowitz D. M. Quantitative distribution of galanin-like immunoreactivity in the rat central nervous system. Peptides. 1986 Jul-Aug;7(4):609–613. doi: 10.1016/0196-9781(86)90035-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Spindel E. R., Chin W. W., Price J., Rees L. H., Besser G. M., Habener J. F. Cloning and characterization of cDNAs encoding human gastrin-releasing peptide. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Sep;81(18):5699–5703. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.18.5699. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Tatemoto K., Rökaeus A., Jörnvall H., McDonald T. J., Mutt V. Galanin - a novel biologically active peptide from porcine intestine. FEBS Lett. 1983 Nov 28;164(1):124–128. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(83)80033-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES