Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2007 Oct;152(4):415-6.
doi: 10.1038/sj.bjp.0707384. Epub 2007 Jul 9.

Towards a receptor for nocistatin?

E E Johnson  1 , M Connor
Affiliations
Comment

Towards a receptor for nocistatin?

E E Johnson et al. Br J Pharmacol. 2007 Oct.

Abstract

Nocistatin is a peptide derived from the pronociceptin precursor, the source of nociceptin, the endogenous ligand for the nociceptin (NOP or ORL1). Despite nocistatin showing activity in a wide range of assays for nociception and other CNS activities, there is a dearth of information regarding the cellular actions of this peptide in the brain, and no receptor for nocistatin has been identified. In a study published in this issue of the British Journal of Pharmacology, Fantin and colleagues demonstrate that nocistatin inhibits 5-HT release from cortical synaptosomes in a concentration-dependent and Pertussis toxin-sensitive manner. The actions of nocistatin are independent of activity at NOP receptors. This study represents the first unambiguous demonstration of nocistatin agonist actions in brain and, taken together with previous work in the spinal cord, provides strong evidence that there is an as yet unidentified G protein-coupled receptor for nocistatin.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment on

References

    1. Ahmadi S, Kotalla C, Guhring H, Takeshima H, Pahl A, Zeilhofer HU. Modulation of synaptic transmission by nociceptin/orphanin FQ and nocistatin in the spinal cord dorsal horn of mutant mice lacking the nociceptin/orphanin FQ receptor. Mol Pharmacol. 2001;59:612–618. - PubMed
    1. Ahmadi S, Muth-Selbach U, Lauterbach A, Lipfert P, Neuhuber WL, Zeilhofer HU. Facilitation of spinal NMDA receptor currents by spillover of synaptically released glycine. Science. 2003;300:2094–2097. - PubMed
    1. Fantin M, Fischetti C, Trapella C, Morari M.Nocistatin inhibits 5-hydroxytryptamine release in the mouse neocortex via presynaptic Gi/o protein linked pathways Br J Pharmacol 2007152549–555.(this issue) - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kazi JA, Liu EH, Lee TL, Tachibana S. Localization of nocistatin-binding sites in mice brain and spinal cord using a biotinylated nocistatin probe. NeuroReport. 2007;18:767–770. - PubMed
    1. Lee T-L, Fung FMY, Chen F-G, Chou N, Okuda-Ashitaka E, Ito S, et al. Identification of human, rat and mouse nocistatin in brain and human cerebrospinal fluid. NeuroReport. 1999;10:1537–1541. - PubMed

MeSH terms