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Galanin: A newly recognised peptide in the enteric nervous system
325 D I S T R I B U T I O N OF G A L A N I N OF MAN AND RAT.
RPMS,
IMMUNOREACTIVITY
IN THE U R O G E N I T A L
TRACT
F E BAUER, N D C H R I S T O F I D E S , J GU, G HACKER, K TATEMOTO, J M P O L A K a n d S R BLOOM, D e p t of M e d i c i n e & H i s t o c h e m i s t r y , Du Cane Rd, L o n d o n W12 O H S and K a r o l i n s k a Institute, Stockholm.
Galanin, a 29 amino acid p e p t i d e w i t h a N - t e r m i n a l glycine and a C - t e r m i n a l a l a n i n e residue, w a s r e c e n t l y i s o l a t e d from p o r c i n e intestine. Gal has been shown to be p r e s e n t in the C N S and it may t h e r e f o r e have a role as n e u r o t r a n s m i t t e r or n e u r o m o d u l a t o r . In the p r e s e n t study we have i n v e s t i g a t e d its p r e s e n c e in the u r o g e n i t a l tract of man and rat by r a d i o i m m u n o a s s a y and i m m u n o c y t o c h e m i s t r y . In humans the h i g h e s t c o n c e n t r a t i o n s were found in male genitalia: vas d e f e r e n s 14 ± I p m o l / g (~ + SEM), corpus c a v e r n o s u m et s p o n g i o s u m 11 ± 4 pmol/g, p r o s t a t e 11 • 2 pmol/g, e p i d i d y m i s and glans 4 • 2 p m o l / g and testis 2 • I pmol/g. In human female g e n i t a l i a the h i g h e s t c o n c e n t r a t i o n s were found in the v a g i n a and the c e r v i x (4 ± I pmol/g) f o l l o w e d by the f a l l o p e a n tubes and the e n d o - a n d m y o m e t r i u m (2.5 ± I p m o l / g ) . The ovaries c o n t a i n e d the lowest c o n c e n t r a t i o n s (2 • 0.5 pmol/g). No sex d i f f e r e n c e s were found in G a I - I R of the b l a d d e r (3 ± 1.5 pmol/g). In female rat the highest c o n c e n t r a t i o n s were also found in the v a g i n a (4 ± I pmol/g). In the c e r v i x it was 1.5 ± I p m o l / g and in the b l a d d e r 1.5 ± 0.5 pmol/g. By h i s t o c h e m i s t r y G a I - I R nerves w e r e d e m o n s t r a t e d in the s m o o t h m u s c l e layer and also in a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h blood vessels. No change of G a I - I R was o b t a i n e d after n e o n a t a l c a p s a i c i n treatment, s u g g e s t i n g that G a I - I R is not p r e s e n t in p r i m a r y s e n s o r y afferent fibres. The location of G a I - I R may suggest a p o s s i b l e f u n c t i o n a l role in the u r o g e n t i a l system.
GAI_ANIN: A NEWLY RECOGNISED PEPTIDE IN THE ENTERIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
A.E. Bishop, 1N.D. Christofides, IE. Bauer, 2K. Tatemoto, 1S.R. Bloom and J.tl. Polak Departments of Histochemistry and lrledicine, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London W12 OHS, U.K., and 2Department of Biochemistry I I , Karolinska I n s t i t u t e , Stockholm, Sweden One of the latest regulatory peptides to be discovered is galanin, a 29 amino acid peptide f i r s t found in porcine gut. Galanin has already been shown to have pharmacological actions, including contraction of smooth muscle. In this study, i mmunocytochemistry and radioimmunoassaywere used to test for the presence of galanin in the mammalian gut. Significant quantities of galanin were found in rat, pig and human gut, ranging from 3.7±0.7 in rat antrum to 76.5~14.3 in pig colon (mean ± SEM). This peptide-immunoreactivity was localised exclusively to a diffuse network of nerves which permeated all layers of the gut wall. Peptide-immunoreactive neuronal cell bodies were found almost exclusively in the submucous plexus and were most numerous in the upper small intestine. Following surgical destruction of the extrinsic nervous supply to the rat colon, no loss of galanin nerves could be detected, suggesting that, in this area at least, the nerves have a predominantly i n t r i n s i c origin. Thus, a new type of enteric nerve has been discovered in the mammalian gut. The known pharmacological actions of galanin suggest that these nerves play an active part in gut function.
RPMS,
IMMUNOREACTIVITY
IN THE U R O G E N I T A L
TRACT
F E BAUER, N D C H R I S T O F I D E S , J GU, G HACKER, K TATEMOTO, J M P O L A K a n d S R BLOOM, D e p t of M e d i c i n e & H i s t o c h e m i s t r y , Du Cane Rd, L o n d o n W12 O H S and K a r o l i n s k a Institute, Stockholm.
Galanin, a 29 amino acid p e p t i d e w i t h a N - t e r m i n a l glycine and a C - t e r m i n a l a l a n i n e residue, w a s r e c e n t l y i s o l a t e d from p o r c i n e intestine. Gal has been shown to be p r e s e n t in the C N S and it may t h e r e f o r e have a role as n e u r o t r a n s m i t t e r or n e u r o m o d u l a t o r . In the p r e s e n t study we have i n v e s t i g a t e d its p r e s e n c e in the u r o g e n i t a l tract of man and rat by r a d i o i m m u n o a s s a y and i m m u n o c y t o c h e m i s t r y . In humans the h i g h e s t c o n c e n t r a t i o n s were found in male genitalia: vas d e f e r e n s 14 ± I p m o l / g (~ + SEM), corpus c a v e r n o s u m et s p o n g i o s u m 11 ± 4 pmol/g, p r o s t a t e 11 • 2 pmol/g, e p i d i d y m i s and glans 4 • 2 p m o l / g and testis 2 • I pmol/g. In human female g e n i t a l i a the h i g h e s t c o n c e n t r a t i o n s were found in the v a g i n a and the c e r v i x (4 ± I pmol/g) f o l l o w e d by the f a l l o p e a n tubes and the e n d o - a n d m y o m e t r i u m (2.5 ± I p m o l / g ) . The ovaries c o n t a i n e d the lowest c o n c e n t r a t i o n s (2 • 0.5 pmol/g). No sex d i f f e r e n c e s were found in G a I - I R of the b l a d d e r (3 ± 1.5 pmol/g). In female rat the highest c o n c e n t r a t i o n s were also found in the v a g i n a (4 ± I pmol/g). In the c e r v i x it was 1.5 ± I p m o l / g and in the b l a d d e r 1.5 ± 0.5 pmol/g. By h i s t o c h e m i s t r y G a I - I R nerves w e r e d e m o n s t r a t e d in the s m o o t h m u s c l e layer and also in a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h blood vessels. No change of G a I - I R was o b t a i n e d after n e o n a t a l c a p s a i c i n treatment, s u g g e s t i n g that G a I - I R is not p r e s e n t in p r i m a r y s e n s o r y afferent fibres. The location of G a I - I R may suggest a p o s s i b l e f u n c t i o n a l role in the u r o g e n t i a l system.
GAI_ANIN: A NEWLY RECOGNISED PEPTIDE IN THE ENTERIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
A.E. Bishop, 1N.D. Christofides, IE. Bauer, 2K. Tatemoto, 1S.R. Bloom and J.tl. Polak Departments of Histochemistry and lrledicine, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London W12 OHS, U.K., and 2Department of Biochemistry I I , Karolinska I n s t i t u t e , Stockholm, Sweden One of the latest regulatory peptides to be discovered is galanin, a 29 amino acid peptide f i r s t found in porcine gut. Galanin has already been shown to have pharmacological actions, including contraction of smooth muscle. In this study, i mmunocytochemistry and radioimmunoassaywere used to test for the presence of galanin in the mammalian gut. Significant quantities of galanin were found in rat, pig and human gut, ranging from 3.7±0.7 in rat antrum to 76.5~14.3 in pig colon (mean ± SEM). This peptide-immunoreactivity was localised exclusively to a diffuse network of nerves which permeated all layers of the gut wall. Peptide-immunoreactive neuronal cell bodies were found almost exclusively in the submucous plexus and were most numerous in the upper small intestine. Following surgical destruction of the extrinsic nervous supply to the rat colon, no loss of galanin nerves could be detected, suggesting that, in this area at least, the nerves have a predominantly i n t r i n s i c origin. Thus, a new type of enteric nerve has been discovered in the mammalian gut. The known pharmacological actions of galanin suggest that these nerves play an active part in gut function.