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
. 1978 Feb;75(2):994–998. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.2.994

Extrahypophysial distribution of corticotropin as a function of brain size.

R Moldow, R S Yalow
PMCID: PMC411386  PMID: 204943

Abstract

Determination by radioimmunoassay of corticotropin in the brains of rats, rabbits, dogs, monkeys, and human beings reveals that the dimensions within which the hormone is found is about the same for each of these species but that the anatomical regions in which the hormone is found depends on brain size. Corticotropin is widely distributed in the brain of rats but is found only in the hypothalamic region of the primate brain. The patterns of immunoreactivity observed after Sephadex gel filtration confirm that the molecular forms of corticotropin found in extrahypophysial regions are similar to those in the pituitary of each species. These findings suggest that the mammalian pituitary is the sole site of synthesis of the hormone. The observation of persistence of corticotropin in the brains of commerically hypophysectomized rats has been interpreted by others as suggesting diencephalic as well as pituitary origin for this peptide. However, our studies demonstrate that 8 weeks after hypophysectomy the rats we have received from commerical sources manifest stress-stimulated plasma corticotropin concentrations about 80% of that found in intact rats in spite of the fact that residual pituitary tissue was not found by visual inspection of the sella. Scrapings from the sella revealed a corticotropin content up to 5% that of the average rat pituitary.

Full text

PDF
994

Images in this article

996Image
on p.996
997Image
on p.997
997Image
on p.997

Selected References

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

  1. Allen J. P., Kendall J. W., McGilvra R., Vancura C. Immunoreactive ACTH in cerebrospinal fluid. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1974 Apr;38(4):586–593. doi: 10.1210/jcem-38-4-586. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Berson S. A., Yalow R. S. Radioimmunoassay of ACTH in plasma. J Clin Invest. 1968 Dec;47(12):2725–2751. doi: 10.1172/JCI105955. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brownstein M., Arimura A., Sato H., Schally A. V., Kizer J. S. The regional distribution of somatostatin in the rat brain. Endocrinology. 1975 Jun;96(6):1456–1461. doi: 10.1210/endo-96-6-1456. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bryant M. G., Polak M. M., Modlin I., Bloom S. R., Albuquerque R. H., Pearse A. G. Possible dual role for vasoactive intestinal peptide as gastrointestinal hormone and neurotransmitter substance. Lancet. 1976 May 8;1(7967):991–993. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(76)91863-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cheung A. L., Goldstein A. Failure of hypophysectomy to alter brain content of opioid peptides (endorphins). Life Sci. 1976 Oct 1;19(7):1005–1008. doi: 10.1016/0024-3205(76)90291-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Coslovsky R., Schneider B., Yalow R. S. Characterization of mouse ACTH in plasma and in extracts of pituitary and of adrenotropic pituitary tumor. Endocrinology. 1975 Nov;97(5):1308–1315. doi: 10.1210/endo-97-5-1308. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Coslovsky R., Yalow R. S. Influence of the hormonal forms of ACTH on the pattern of corticosteroid secretion. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1974 Oct 23;60(4):1351–1356. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(74)90346-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gewirtz G., Yalow R. S. Ectopic ACTH production in carcinoma of the lung. J Clin Invest. 1974 Apr;53(4):1022–1032. doi: 10.1172/JCI107639. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hong J. S., Yang H. Y., Fratta W., Costa E. Determination of methionine enkephalin in discrete regions of rat brain. Brain Res. 1977 Oct 7;134(2):383–386. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(77)91084-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Krieger D. T., Liotta A., Brownstein M. J. Presence of corticotropin in brain of normal and hypophysectomized rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Feb;74(2):648–652. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.2.648. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Krieger D. T., Liotta A., Brownstein M. J. Presence of corticotropin in limbic system of normal and hypophysectomized rats. Brain Res. 1977 Jun 17;128(3):575–579. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(77)90185-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Muller J. E., Straus E., Yalow R. S. Cholecystokinin and its COOH-terminal octapeptide in the pig brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Jul;74(7):3035–3037. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.7.3035. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Oliver C., Mical R. S., Porter J. C. Hypothalamic-pituitary vasculature: evidence for retrograde blood flow in the pituitary stalk. Endocrinology. 1977 Aug;101(2):598–604. doi: 10.1210/endo-101-2-598. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Page R. B., Munger B. L., Bergland R. M. Scanning microscopy of pituitary vascular casts. Am J Anat. 1976 Jul;146(3):273–301. doi: 10.1002/aja.1001460305. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Simantov R., Kuhar M. J., Uhl G. R., Snyder S. H. Opioid peptide enkephalin: immunohistochemical mapping in rat central nervous system. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 May;74(5):2167–2171. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.5.2167. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Straus E., Muller J. E., Choi H. S., Paronetto F., Yalow R. S. Immunohistochemical localization in rabbit brain of a peptide resembling the COOH-terminal octapeptide of cholecystokinin. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Jul;74(7):3033–3034. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.7.3033. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Yalow R. S., Berson S. A. Characteristics of "big ACTH" in human plasma and pituitary extracts. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1973 Mar;36(3):415–423. doi: 10.1210/jcem-36-3-415. [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