Skip to main content
NCBI 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
. 1984 Jan;81(2):625–629. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.2.625

Neuropeptide-induced contraction and relaxation of the mouse anococcygeus muscle.

A Gibson, H A Bern, M Ginsburg, J H Botting
PMCID: PMC344732  PMID: 6582516

Abstract

Isometric tension responses to neuropeptides were recorded from anococcygeus muscles isolated from male mice. This smooth muscle tissue is innervated by inhibitory nonadrenergic, noncholinergic nerves that resemble, ultrastructurally, the peptidergic neurons of the gastrointestinal tract; the physiological function of the anococcygeus is not known. Slow sustained contractions were produced by oxytocin (0.2-20 nM), [Arg8]vasopressin (0.4-200 nM), and [Arg]-vasotocin (0.4-100 nM); the mouse anococcygeus is, therefore, one of the few examples of nonvascular smooth muscle from male mammals to respond to low concentrations of oxytocin and related peptides. Substance P (0.5-8 microM) caused distinctive, biphasic increases in muscle tone of some, but not all, preparations. Other neuropeptides producing contractions were neurotensin (2-100 microM) and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (2-100 microM); the responses were of similar time course and displayed selective cross-desensitization, suggesting that these two peptides act through a common distinct mechanism. Tetradecapeptide somatostatin (10-80 microM) and its analog urotensin II (0.1-5 microM), a dodecapeptide from the urophysis of the teleost fish Gillichthys mirabilis, produced similar slowly developing relaxations of carbachol-induced tone. Piscine urotensin II, of which there are no reported effects on nonvascular mammalian systems, was 20-50 times more potent than somatostatin, a well-established mammalian hormone. Of the peptides studied, only vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (0.05-1 microM) caused rapid powerful relaxations in low concentrations; this is consistent with its proposed involvement in nonadrenergic, noncholinergic neurotransmission in the mouse anococcygeus.

Full text

PDF
625

Selected References

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

  1. BOTTING J. H. AN ISOLATED PREPARATION WITH A SELECTIVE SENSITIVITY TO VASOPRESSIN. Br J Pharmacol Chemother. 1965 Feb;24:156–162. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1965.tb02090.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Burnstock G., Cocks T., Crowe R. Evidence for purinergic innervation of the anococcygeus muscle. Br J Pharmacol. 1978 Sep;64(1):13–20. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1978.tb08635.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Creed K. E., Gillespie J. S., McCaffery H. The rabbit anococcygeus muscle and its response to field stimulation and to some drugs. J Physiol. 1977 Dec;273(1):121–135. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1977.sp012085. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. DEBACKERE M., PEETERS G., TUYITTENS N. Reflex release of an oxytocic hormone by stimulation of genital organs in male and female sheep studied by a cross-circulation technique. J Endocrinol. 1961 Jun;22:321–334. doi: 10.1677/joe.0.0220321. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dehpour A. R., Khoyi M. A., Koutcheki H., Zarrindast M. R. Pharmacological study of the anococcygeus muscle of the dog. Br J Pharmacol. 1980;71(1):35–40. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1980.tb10906.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gibbins I. L., Haller C. J. Ultrastructural identification of non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic nerves in the rat anococcygeus muscle. Cell Tissue Res. 1979 Aug;200(2):257–271. doi: 10.1007/BF00236418. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gibson A., Tucker J. F. The effects of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and of adenosine 5'-triphosphate on the isolated anococcygeus muscle of the mouse. Br J Pharmacol. 1982 Sep;77(1):97–103. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1982.tb09274.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gibson A., Wedmore C. V. Responses of the isolated anococcygeus muscle of the mouse to drugs and to field stimulation. J Auton Pharmacol. 1981 Jun;1(3):225–233. doi: 10.1111/j.1474-8673.1981.tb00451.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gibson A., Yu O. Biphasic non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic relaxations of the mouse anococcygeus muscle. Br J Pharmacol. 1983 Jun;79(2):611–615. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1983.tb11036.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gillespie J. S., Martin W. A smooth muscle inhibitory material from the bovine retractor penis and rat anococcygeus muscles. J Physiol. 1980 Dec;309:55–64. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1980.sp013493. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gillespie J. S., McGrath J. C. The response of the cat anococcygeus muscle to nerve or drug stimulation and a comparison with the rat anococcygeus. Br J Pharmacol. 1974 Jan;50(1):109–118. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1974.tb09597.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gillespie J. S., McKnight A. T. The actions of some vasoactive polypeptides and their antagonists on the anococcygeus muscle. Br J Pharmacol. 1978 Feb;62(2):267–274. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1978.tb08455.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Gillespie J. S. The rat anococcygeus muscle and its response to nerve stimulation and to some drugs. Br J Pharmacol. 1972 Jul;45(3):404–416. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1972.tb08097.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lacanilao F., Bern H. A. The urophysial hydrosmotic factor of fishes. 3. Survey of fish caudal spinal cord regions for hydrosmotic activity. 1. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1972 Sep;140(4):1252–1253. doi: 10.3181/00379727-140-36652. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Lundberg C., Smedegård G. Regional differences in skin blood flow as measured by radioactive microspheres. Acta Physiol Scand. 1981 Apr;111(4):491–496. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1981.tb06768.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Lundberg J. M., Anggård A., Fahrenkrug J. VIP as a mediator of hexamethonium-sensitive, atropine-resistant vasodilation in the cat tongue. Acta Physiol Scand. 1982 Dec;116(4):387–392. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1982.tb07156.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Pearson D., Shively J. E., Clark B. R., Geschwind I. I., Barkley M., Nishioka R. S., Bern H. A. Urotensin II: a somatostatin-like peptide in the caudal neurosecretory system of fishes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Aug;77(8):5021–5024. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.8.5021. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Tonoue T., Furukawa K., Nomoto T. The direct influence of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) on the smooth muscle of rat duodenum. Life Sci. 1979 Dec 3;25(23):2011–2016. doi: 10.1016/0024-3205(79)90605-2. [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