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Broiler chicks eat more food than layer chicks. However, the causes of the difference in food intake in the neonatal period between these strains are not clear. In this study, we examined the involvement of proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived melanocortin peptides α-, β- and γ-melanocyte-stimulating hormones (MSHs) in the difference in food intake between broiler and layer chicks. First, we compared the hypothalamic mRNA levels of POMC between these strains and found that there was no significant difference in these levels between broiler and layer chicks. Next, we examined the effects of central administration of MSHs on food intake in these strains. Central administration of α-MSH significantly suppressed food intake in both strains. Central administration of β-MSH significantly suppressed food intake in layer chicks, but not in broiler chicks, while central administration of γ-MSH did not influence food intake in either strain. It is therefore likely that the absence of the anorexigenic effect of β-MSH might be related to the increased food intake in broiler chicks., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Melanocortin 3 receptor (MC3-R) has high affinity and specificity to gamma melanocyte-stimulating hormone (gammaMSH), a natriuretic peptide involved in regulation of blood pressure (BP) and sodium excretion. Recent studies showing increased MC3-R expression and elevated plasma gammaMSH in normal rats fed a high-salt diet support the role of this system in sodium homeostasis. We hypothesized that dysregulation of MC3-R response to dietary salt may contribute to salt retention and BP elevation in salt-sensitive hypertension. We examined renal MC3-R expression, plasma gammaMSH concentration, and response to MC3-R agonist and antagonist in Dahl salt-sensitive (DSS) and Dahl salt-resistant (DSR) rats fed high-salt (8%) or low-salt (0.07%) diets for 3 weeks. Consumption of high-salt diet significantly increased BP in the DSS but not the DSR group. High-salt diet led to a 5-fold increase in plasma gammaMSH and a 2-fold increase in renal MC3-R in DSR rats. Plasma gammaMSH and renal MC3-R abundance in DSS rats were maximally elevated on low-salt diet and remained unchanged on high-salt diet. Administration of MC3-R agonist melanotan II significantly lowered BP and raised fractional Na excretion in the DSR but not the DSS rats consuming high-salt diet. In contrast, MC3-R antagonist SHU9119 significantly raised BP and lowered fractional Na excretion in both groups. Thus, the data suggest that gammaMSH-renal MC3-R pathway is activated and appears to be biologically functional in the DSS rats.

A close association between salt-sensitive hypertension and insulin resistance has been recognized for more than two decades, although the mechanism(s) underlying this relationship have not been elucidated. Recent data in mice with genetic disruption of the gamma-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (gamma-MSH) system suggest that this system plays a role in the pathophysiological relationship between hypertension and altered glucose metabolism during ingestion of a high-sodium diet (8% NaCl, HSD). We tested the hypothesis that these two consequences of interrupted gamma-MSH signalling were the result of sympathetic activation by studying rats treated with the dopaminergic agonist bromocriptine (5 mg kg(-1) i.p., daily for 1 week; Bromo) to cause relative gamma-MSH deficiency. Bromo-treated rats fed the HSD developed hypertension and also exhibited fasting hyperglycaemia (P < 0.005) and hyperinsulinaemia (P < 0.025). Furthermore, Bromo-treated rats on the HSD had impaired glucose tolerance and blunted insulin-mediated glucose disposal. Intravenous infusion of gamma(2)-MSH, or of the alpha-adrenergic receptor antagonist phentolamine, to Bromo-HSD rats lowered both mean arterial pressure (MAP) and blood glucose to normal after 15 min (P < 0.001 versus control), but had no effect in rats receiving vehicle and fed the HSD; gamma(2)-MSH infusion also reduced the elevated plasma noradrenaline to control levels in parallel with the reductions in MAP and blood glucose concentration. Infusion of hydralazine to Bromo-HSD rats lowered MAP but had only a trivial effect on blood glucose. We conclude that rats with relative gamma-MSH deficiency develop abnormal glucose metabolism, with features of insulin resistance, in association with hypertension when ingesting the HSD. Elevated plasma noradrenaline concentration in Bromo-HSD rats is normalized by gamma(2)-MSH infusion, suggesting that an adrenergic mechanism may link the salt-sensitive hypertension and the impaired glucose metabolism of relative gamma-MSH deficiency.

Central circuits known to regulate food intake and energy expenditure also affect central cardiovascular regulation. For example, both the melanocortin and neuropeptide Y (NPY) peptide families, known to regulate food intake, also produce central hypertensive effects. Members of both families share a similar C-terminal amino acid residue sequence, RF(Y) amide, a sequence distinct from that required for melanocortin receptor binding. A recently delineated family of RFamide receptors recognizes both of these C-terminal motifs. We now present evidence that an antagonist with Y1 and RFamide receptor activity, BIBO3304, will attenuate the central cardiovascular effects of both gamma-melanocyte stimulating hormone (gamma-MSH) and NPY. The use of synthetic melanocortin and NPY peptide analogs excluded an interaction with melanocortin or Y family receptors. We suggest that the anatomical convergence of NPY and melanocortin neurons on cardiovascular control centers may have pathophysiological implications through a common or similar RFamide receptor(s), much as they converge on other nuclei to coordinately control energy homeostasis.

Alpha-, beta- and gamma-melanocyte stimulating hormones (MSHs) are peptides derived from the ACTH precursor, pro-opiomelanocortin. All three peptides have been highly conserved throughout evolution but their exact biological function in mammals is still largely obscure. In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in alpha-MSH and its role in the regulation of feeding. Gamma-MSH by contrast has been shown to be involved in the regulation of adrenal steroidogenesis and also has effects on the cardiovascular and renal systems. This review will provide an overview of the role that gamma-MSH peptides play in the regulation of adrenal steroidogenesis.

alpha-MSH is involved in reproductive processes and can regulate the expression of lordosis, an important component of female reproductive behavior in rats and many other species. In this study, we investigated the effects of MSH peptides on lordosis behavior when injected in medial preoptic area (POA) of ovariectomised rats primed with estradiol. The results show an increase in lordotic activity after bilateral administration of alpha-MSH and gamma-MSH. Interestingly, the treatment with the MC4 receptor antagonist HS014 did not block the stimulatory effect of alpha-MSH. Moreover, the injection of HS014 did not itself modify the lordosis quotient. Nitric oxide has been suggested to play a crucial role in the regulation of lordosis behavior via stimulation of guanylyl cyclase to synthesize cGMP. In order to determine the participation of NO in the effect of the melanocortins, another group of rats were treated with L-NAME, an inhibitor of NOS, alone or 15 min before the injection of alpha-MSH or gamma-MSH. The injection of L-NAME into the POA of E-primed rats 15 min before the test for sexual receptivity did not modify significantly the lordosis quotient at the two doses examined. The treatment with L-NAME at the lowest dose completely abolished the stimulatory effect of alpha-MSH and gamma-MSH on sexual behavior. The results indicate that the effects of MSH peptides on female sexual behavior in this area are mediated through specific MC receptor, that could be the MC3 receptor and that NO mediates the melanocortins effects.

Treatment for 40 h of reaggregate pituitary cell cultures from 14-day-old female rats with nanomolar concentrations of gamma3-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) increased prolactin mRNA but not growth hormone (GH) mRNA expression levels as measured by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). During the 40 h incubation, gamma3-MSH stimulated prolactin accumulation in the culture medium. alpha-MSH, a potent agonist of the rat melanocortin-3 receptor (MC3R) and Ala(8)-gamma2-MSH, a very weak agonist of the MC3R, increased prolactin mRNA expression at a similar concentration range as gamma3-MSH. The effect of gamma3-MSH on prolactin mRNA expression was abolished when aggregates were cultured in the presence of thyroid or glucocorticoid hormones, but not of oestradiol. By contrast, oestradiol abolished the stimulatory effect of Ala(8)-gamma2-MSH on prolactin mRNA expression. In GH3 cells stably transfected with the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) gene under control of a 3-kb prolactin promoter fragment, a dose as low as 1 nMgamma3-MSH, added for 24 h, significantly increased eGFP fluorescence. Agouti-related protein (AgRP(83-132)), a known endogenous MC3R and MC4R antagonist, did not reduce the stimulation of prolactin mRNA expression by gamma3-MSH or Ala(8)-gamma2-MSH. On its own, AgRP(83-132) significantly increased prolactin mRNA expression level and prolactin accumulation. Both gamma2-MSH and Ala(8)-gamma2-MSH increased [S(35)]GTPgammaS binding in membrane preparations of 14-day-old rat pituitaries and of GH3 cells. Whereas MC3R and MC5R mRNA were detectable by RT-PCR in normal pituitary, these receptor mRNAs were undetectable in GH3 cells using various oligonucleotide primer sets. The present findings indicate that melanocortin peptides stimulate prolactin gene expression and production and that, at least in part, a receptor different from the classic MCR is involved. AgRP appears to have other actions than its known antagonistic activity on the MC3R and MC4R.

Alpha-, beta-, and gamma-melanocyte stimulating hormones (MSHs) are melanotropin peptides that are derived from the ACTH/beta-endorphin prohormone proopiomelanocortin (POMC). They have been highly conserved through evolutionary development, although their functions in mammals have remained obscure. The identification in the last decade of a family of five membrane-spanning melanocortin receptors (MC-Rs), for which the melanotropins are the natural ligands, has permitted the characterization of a number of important actions of these peptides, although the physiological function(s) of gamma-MSH have remained elusive. Much evidence indicates that gamma-MSH stimulates sympathetic outflow and raises blood pressure through a central mechanism. However, this review focuses on newer cardiovascular and renal actions of the peptide, acting in most cases through the MC3-R. In rodents, a high-sodium diet (HSD) increases the pituitary abundance of POMC mRNA and of gamma-MSH content and results in a doubling of plasma gamma-MSH concentration. The peptide is natriuretic and acts through renal MC3-Rs, which are also upregulated by the HSD. Thus the system appears designed to participate in the integrated response to dietary sodium excess. Genetic or pharmacologic induction of gamma-MSH deficiency results in marked salt-sensitive hypertension that is corrected by the administration of the peptide, probably through a central site of action. Deletion of the MC3-R also produces salt-sensitive hypertension, which, however, is not corrected by infusion of the hormone. These observations in aggregate suggest the operation of a hormonal system important in blood pressure control and in the regulation of sodium excretion. The relationship of these two actions to each other and the significance of this system in humans are important questions for future research.

In rats subjected to myocardial ischemia/reperfusion, melanocortin peptides, including gamma(1)-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (gamma(1)-MSH), are able to exert a protective effect by stimulating brain melanocortin MC(3) receptors. A non-melanocortin receptor belonging to a group of receptors for Phe-Met-Arg-Phe-NH(2) (FMRFamide)-like peptides may be involved in some of the cardiovascular effects of the gamma-MSHs. FMRFamide-like peptides and gamma(1)-/gamma(2)-MSH share, among other things, the C-terminal Arg-Phe sequence, which seems to be essential for cardiovascular effects in normal animals. So we aimed to further investigate which receptor and which structure are involved in the protective effects of melanocortins in anesthetized rats subjected to myocardial ischemia by ligature of the left anterior descending coronary artery (5 min), followed by reperfusion. In saline-treated rats, reperfusion induced, within a few seconds, a high incidence of ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, and a high percentage of death within the 5 min of observation period. Reperfusion was associated with a massive increase in free radical blood levels and with an abrupt and marked fall in systemic arterial pressure. The i.v. treatment (162 nmol/kg) during the ischemic period with the adrenocorticotropin fragment 1-24 [ACTH-(1-24): the reference protective melanocortin which binds all melanocortin receptors], as well as with both the melanocortin MC(3) receptor agonists gamma(2)-MSH and [D-Trp(8)]gamma(2)-MSH, reduced the incidence of ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation and death, the increase in free radical blood levels and the fall in arterial pressure. On the contrary, gamma(2)-MSH-(6-12) (a fragment unable to bind melanocortin receptors) was ineffective. Such protective effect was prevented by the melanocortin MC(3)/MC(4) receptor antagonist SHU 9119. In normal (i.e., not subjected to myocardial ischemia/reperfusion) rats, the same i.v. dose (162 nmol/kg) of gamma(2)-MSH, [D-Trp(8)]gamma(2)-MSH and gamma(2)-MSH-(6-12) provoked a prompt and transient increase in arterial pressure; on the other hand, ACTH-(1-24), which lacks the C-terminal Arg-Phe sequence, decreased arterial pressure, but only at higher doses. Heart rate of normal rats was not affected by any of the assayed peptides. The present data confirm and extend our previous findings that melanocortins prevent myocardial reperfusion injury by activating melanocortin MC(3) receptors. Moreover, they further support the notion that, in normal rats, cardiovascular effects of gamma-MSHs are mediated by receptors for FMRFamide-like peptides, for whose activation, but not for that of melanocortin MC(3) receptors, the C-terminal Arg-Phe structure being relevant.

The gamma-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (gamma-MSH) is a natriuretic peptide derived from the N-terminal region of proopiomelanocortin (POMC). Evidence suggests that it may be part of the coordinated response to a low-sodium diet (LSD). We tested the effect of the HSD (8% NaCl) compared with LSD (0.07%) on mean arterial pressure (MAP) in mice with targeted disruption of the PC2 gene (PC2(-/-)), necessary for processing of POMC into gamma-MSH, or the melanocortin receptor 3 gene (Mc3r(-/-); the receptor for MSH). In wild-type mice, HSD for 1 week did not alter MAP versus LSD mice, but plasma gamma-MSH immunoreactivity was more than double the LSD value. In contrast, in PC2(-/-) mice, MAP on the LSD was not greater than in wild-type mice, but plasma gamma-MSH was reduced to one-seventh the wild-type value. On the HSD, MAP rose to a markedly hypertensive level while plasma gamma-MSH concentration remained severely depressed. Intravenous infusion of gamma-MSH (0.2 pmol/min) for 30 min to PC2(-/-) mice after 1 week of HSD lowered MAP from hypertensive levels to normal; infusion of alpha-MSH at the same rate had no effect. Injection of 60 fmol of gamma-MSH into the lateral cerebral ventricle of hypertensive mice also lowered MAP to normal. Administration of a stable analogue of gamma-MSH intra-abdominally by microosmotic pump to PC2(-/-) mice prevented the development of hypertension when ingesting the HSD. In mice with targeted disruption of the Mc3r gene, the HSD also led to marked hypertension accompanied by elevated plasma levels of gamma-MSH; infusion of exogenous gamma-MSH to these mice had no effect on MAP. These results strongly suggest that PC2-dependent processing of POMC into gamma-MSH is necessary for the normal response to the HSD. gamma-MSH deficiency results in marked salt-sensitive hypertension that is rapidly improved with exogenous gamma-MSH through a central site of action. alpha-MSH infused at the same rate had no effect on MAP, indicating that the hypertension is a specific consequence of impaired POMC processing into gamma-MSH. Absence of Mc3r produces gamma-MSH resistance and hypertension on the HSD. These findings demonstrate a novel pathway mediating salt-sensitivity of blood pressure.

The structure-activity relationship and signal transduction properties of the pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived gamma-MSH peptides in the GH3 cell line was compared with that described for the known melanocortin receptors (MCRs). Single alanine replacements showed that, unlike the classical MCRs, the His(5)-Phe(6)-Arg(7)-Trp(8) sequence in gamma2-MSH is not a core sequence for activating the gamma-MSH receptor in GH3 cells, whereas Met(3) is essential. gamma2-MSH increased binding of [35S]GTPgammaS to membrane preparations of GH3 cells. Blockade of protein kinase A abolished the [Ca(2+)](i) responses to gamma3-MSH, and low nanomolar doses of gamma3-MSH increased intracellular cAMP levels, which could be blocked by pertussis toxin (PTX). We conclude that the putative novel gamma-MSH receptor in GH3 cells is a GPCR, but with structure-activity and signal transduction features different from those of the classical MCRs.

The neuro-immuno-cutaneous-endocrine network is not a simple construct featuring organ systems intimately involved in the bridge between body and mind. Mind-body influences are bi-directional and the skin should be considered an active neuroimmunoendocrine interface, where effector molecules of neuropeptides act as common words used in a dynamic dialogue between brain, immune system and skin. Gamma-melanocyte stimulating hormone (gamma-MSH), one of the principal neuroimmunomodulating peptides, seems to exercise some control on the cutaneous inflammatory process, through a central action mediated by descending anti-inflammatory neural pathways and via local direct influence on inflammatory cells infiltrating the dermis, such as monocytes, macrophages and neutrophils. Gamma-MSH down-regulates the production of proinflammatory cytokines, while the production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 is stimulated by gamma-MSH. Finally, gamma-MSH seems to regulate the expression of surface molecules in immunocompetent cells. Thus, further studies may lead to the use of gamma-MSH as an important anti-inflammatory agent in clinical dermatology.

The melanocortin (MC) gamma3MSH is a peptide that can be generated from the N-terminal domain of POMC and is believed to signal through the MC3 receptor. We recently showed that it induces a sustained rise in intracellular free calcium levels ([Ca(2+)](i)) in a subpopulation of pituitary cells, particularly in the lactosomatotroph lineage. In the present study we report that gamma3MSH and some analogs increase [Ca(2+)](i) in the GH- and PRL-secreting GH3 cell line and evaluate on the basis of pharmacological experiments and gene expression studies which MC receptor may be involved. A dose as low as 1 pM gamma3MSH induced an oscillating [Ca(2+)](i) increase in a significant percentage of GH3 cells. Increasing the dose recruited an increasing number of responding cells; a maximum was reached at 0.1 nM. gamma2MSH, alphaMSH, and NDP-alphaMSH displayed a similar effect. SHU9119, an MC3 and MC4 receptor antagonist, and an MC5 receptor agonist, did not affect the number of cells showing a [Ca(2+)](i) rise in response to gamma3MSH. SHU9119 had also no effect when added alone. MTII, a potent synthetic agonist of the MC3, MC4, and MC5 receptor as well as an N-terminally extended recombinant analog of gamma3MSH showed low potency in increasing [Ca(2+)](i) in GH3 cells, but high potency in stimulating cAMP accumulation in HEK 293 cells stably transfected with the MC3 receptor. In contrast, a peptide corresponding to the gamma2MSH sequence of POMC-A of Acipenser transmontanus increased [Ca(2+)](i) in GH3 cells, but was about 50 times less potent than gamma2- or gamma3MSH in stimulating cAMP accumulation in the MC3 receptor expressing HEK 293 cells. By means of RT-PCR performed on a RNA extract from GH3 cells, the messenger RNA of the MC2, MC3, and MC4 receptor was undetectable, but messenger RNA of the MC5 receptor was clearly present. These data suggest that the GH3 cell line does not mediate the effect of gamma3MSH through the MC3 receptor. The involvement of the MC5 receptor is unlikely, but cannot definitely be excluded. The findings animate the hypothesis that there exists a second, hitherto unidentified, MC receptor that displays high affinity for gamma3MSH.