P Brazeau

Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, Port Saint Lucie, FL, USA

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Publications (41)297.49 Total impact

  • Article: Growth hormone releasing factors.
    Annual Review of Biochemistry 02/1985; 54:403-23. · 34.32 Impact Factor
  • Article: Rat hypothalamic growth hormone-releasing factor: isolation, sequence analysis and total synthesis.
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    ABSTRACT: Growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF) was isolated from acid extracts of approximately 35,000 rat hypothalami by means of immunoaffinity chromatography, gel filtration and two steps of reverse-phase HPLC. Amino acid analysis, gas-liquid phases sequencing and peptide mapping established that rat GRF is a 43 amino acid peptide with the amino acid sequence His-Ala-Asp-Ala-Ile-Phe-Thr-Ser-Ser-Tyr-Arg-Arg-Ile-Leu-Gly- Gln-Leu-Tyr-Ala-Arg-Lys-Leu-Leu-His-Glu-Ile-Met-Asn-Arg-Gln-Gln-Gly- Glu-Arg-Asn-Gln-Glu-Gln-Arg-Ser-Arg-Phe-Asn-OH, confirming the primary structure reported earlier (Spiess et al Nature 303, 532 (1983).
    Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 01/1985; 125(3):1005-12. · 2.48 Impact Factor
  • Article: Growth hormone-releasing factor from ovine and caprine hypothalamus: isolation, sequence analysis and total synthesis.
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    ABSTRACT: Peptides with high intrinsic growth hormone releasing activity (growth hormone-releasing factor, GRF) were isolated from 2100 ovine and 2600 caprine (goat) hypothalami by means of acid extraction, immunoaffinity chromatography, gel filtration and reverse phase HPLC. Structural characterization of the 44 amino acid ovine peptide by gas-liquid phase sequencing and peptide mapping established its primary structure as Tyr-Ala-Asp-Ala-Ile-Phe-Thr-Asn-Ser -Tyr-Arg-Lys-Ile-Leu-Gly-Gln-Leu-Ser-Ala-Arg-Lys-Leu-Leu-Gln-Asp-Ile-Met -Asn -Arg-Gln-Gln-GLy-Glu-Arg-Asn-Gln-Glu-Gln-Gly-Ala-Lys-Val-Arg-Leu-NH2. Caprine GRF was found to possess the same sequence except for the replacement of the isoleucine residue in position 13 with valine and thus is identical to bovine GRF.
    Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 01/1985; 125(2):606-14. · 2.48 Impact Factor
  • Article: Synthesis and in vitro bioactivity of C-terminal deleted analogs of human growth hormone-releasing factor.
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    ABSTRACT: A series of C-terminal deleted analogs of human growth hormone-releasing factor (hGRF) with either an amidated or a free carboxylic acid C-terminus were synthesized by solid phase methodology. Their capacity to release growth hormone was tested on rat anterior pituitary cells in monolayer culture. A gradual decrease of bioactivity down to 23% relative to hGRF was noted when the C-terminal amino acids were deleted to hGRF (1-34)OH. Further deletions, however, did not decrease the bioactivity because the potencies of the fragments, hGRF(1-31)NH2, (1-30)NH2 and (1-29)NH2 remained at about 50% of that of hGRF. Continual deletion of residues to hGRF(1-23)NH2, (1-22)NH2 and (1-21)NH2 still yielded bioactive fragments with full intrinsic activity despite very low potency. Only with the deletion down to hGRF(1-19)NH2 did the bioactivity completely disappear. Thus, together with the data published in a previous paper (1), the minimal biologically active core of hGRF with full intrinsic activity comprises the fragment (3-21).
    Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 10/1984; 123(2):854-61. · 2.48 Impact Factor
  • Article: GRF (somatocrinin) stimulates release of neurotensin, calcitonin and cAMP by a rat C cell line.
    F Zeytin, P Brazeau
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    ABSTRACT: We reported previously that GRF stimulates release of neurotensin (NT) by a clonal line of rat C cells (44-2 C). We report here that GRF stimulates calcitonin (CT) and cAMP release in these cells. For release experiments, replicate cultures are incubated for 5-180 min in serum-free defined medium. CT, NT and cAMP are measured by RIA. At a maximally effective concentration of GRF (.1-1.0 nM), there is a 2-3 fold stimulation of CT release at 60-90 min with peak release at 180 min. In contrast, GRF causes a rapid 4-6 fold increase of NT release within 5-15 min. In 44-2 C cells there is a 4-40 fold stimulation of cAMP release by GRF. We conclude that in 44-2 C cells GRF stimulates release of NT and cAMP and show for the first time the effect of this peptide on release of CT.
    Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 10/1984; 123(2):497-506. · 2.48 Impact Factor
  • Article: Synthesis and in vitro bioactivity of human growth hormone-releasing factor analogs substituted at position-1.
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    ABSTRACT: Eight position-1 analogs of the 40-amino acid fragment and two position-1 analogs of human growth hormone-releasing factor were synthesized by solid phase methodology and their capacity to release growth hormone was determined using rat anterior pituitary cells in monolayer culture. Relative to hGRF(1-40)OH, which was arbitrarily assigned a potency value of 1, [D-Tyr1]hGRF(1-40)OH, [Phe1]hGRF(1-40)OH, [Trp1]hGRF(1-40)OH, [His1]hGRF(1-40)OH, [Ala1]hGRF(1-40)OH, [(-Ac)Tyr1]hGRF(1-40)OH, Arg0-hGRF(1-40)OH and Ala0-hGRF(1-40)OH have potencies of 0.022, 0.038, 0.003, 0.351, 0.010, 0.032, 0.002 and 0.007 respectively. Relative to hGRF(1-44)NH2 = 1, [(3-Me)His1]hGRF(1-44)NH2 and [(O-Me)Tyr1]hGRF(1-44)NH2 have potencies of 0.132 and 0.001 respectively. These results demonstrate the prerequisite for an aromatic residue at position-1 for potent biological activity and also suggest that the capacity for hydrogen bond formation with the first residue is required for full receptor-ligand interaction.
    Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 08/1984; 122(1):304-10. · 2.48 Impact Factor
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    Article: Isolation, primary structure, and synthesis of human hypothalamic somatocrinin: growth hormone-releasing factor.
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    ABSTRACT: The hypophysiotropic peptide, growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF), was isolated from human hypothalamic-hypophysial tissues by means of acid extraction, immunoaffinity chromatography, gel filtration, and two steps of reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Amino acid sequence determination using a gas-phase sequencer and reverse-phase liquid chromatography of the native peptide and its synthetic replicates showed its primary structure to be as follows: H-Tyr-Ala-Asp-Ala-Ile-Phe-Thr-Asn-Ser-Tyr-Arg-Lys-Val-Leu-Gly-Gln -Leu-Ser-Ala-Arg-Lys-Leu-Leu-Gln-Asp-Ile-Met-Ser-Arg-Gln-Gln-Gly-Glu-Ser -Asn-Gln-Glu-Arg-Gly-Ala-Arg-Ala-Arg-Leu-NH2, which is identical to that of the GRF recently isolated and characterized from a human pancreatic tumor that had caused acromegaly. Human hypothalamic GRF shows major homologies (93%, 89%, and 86%, respectively) when its primary structure is compared to that of the hypothalamic GRF from the porcine, bovine, caprine, and ovine species.
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 08/1984; 81(14):4302-6. · 9.68 Impact Factor
  • Article: Pituitary growth hormone response in rats during a 24-hour infusion of growth hormone-releasing factor.
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    ABSTRACT: The pituitary GH response during a 24-h iv infusion of GH-releasing factor (hpGRF-44; 15 micrograms/h) and to a subsequent bolus injection of hpGRF-44 (2 micrograms) was studied in conscious, freely moving male rats pretreated with antiserum against somatostatin. Within 2 h of the initiation of the hpGRF-44 infusion, plasma GH concentrations rose from 169 +/- 16 to 2465 +/- 307 (+/- SE) ng/ml. By 6 h, plasma GH concentrations began to fall. They decreased slowly and reached a nadir of 490 +/- 107 ng/ml by 12 h. Rats infused for 24 h with hpGRF-44 failed to respond to a 2-micrograms bolus injection (iv) of hpGRF-44, whereas rats infused for 24 h with saline responded with a normal increase in plasma GH. The pituitary GH content of rats treated with saline was significantly greater than that of rats treated with hpGRF-44. These results demonstrate that the capacity of the pituitary to respond to GRF can be exhausted after the chronic administration of hpGRF-44 and that this lack of response appears to be due, in part, to a depletion of pituitary stores of GH.
    Endocrinology 06/1984; 114(5):1613-6. · 4.46 Impact Factor
  • Article: Growth hormone-releasing factor: chemistry and physiology.
    Proceedings of The Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 05/1984; 175(4):407-13.
  • Article: Effects of forskolin and cholera toxin on cyclic AMP release in a neurotensin-secreting rat C-cell line.
    F Zeytin, C Mougin, P Brazeau, N Ling
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    ABSTRACT: The effects of forskolin and cholera toxin on the regulation of cAMP release were studied in a neurotensin-secreting rat C-cell line. The interaction of these agents with norepinephrine, a potent neurotensin secretagogue, was also investigated. Forskolin stimulated cAMP release 10(2)-10(3) fold while it increased neurotensin release 2-3 fold. Cholera toxin caused a 10(2)-10(3) fold increase in cAMP release and had no effect on neurotensin release. We conclude that the 44-2 C-cells provide a new model for studying the regulation of the concomitant (via forskolin) or independent (via cholera toxin) secretion of cyclic AMP and/or neurotensin.
    Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 05/1984; 120(2):540-7. · 2.48 Impact Factor
  • Article: Somatocrinin, the growth hormone releasing factor.
    Recent Progress in Hormone Research 02/1984; 40:233-99.
  • Article: Pituitary response to growth hormone-releasing factor in rats with functional or anatomical lesions of the central nervous system that inhibit endogenous growth hormone secretion.
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    ABSTRACT: The pituitary growth hormone (GH) response to the growth hormone-releasing factor, hpGRF-44, was evaluated in male rats with various lesions of the central nervous system. These included an electrical lesion of the ventromedial hypothalamus, a chemical lesion of the arcuate nucleus induced by neonatal treatment with monosodium glutamate, a functional lesion of catecholamine synthesis with alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine or a functional lesion of catecholamine storage with reserpine. The first three lesions appear to partially inhibit normal somatostatin secretion since in every instance hpGRF-44 administration induced a significant increase in plasma GH concentrations. In contrast, reserpine blocked the GH response to hpGRF-44, presumably by stimulating somatostatin secretion. The pituitary GH response to hpGRF-44 in the above described models was enhanced by pretreatment of the rats with antibodies against somatostatin. The pituitary GH response to repeated injections of hpGRF-44 was also evaluated in rats with an anatomical lesion of the arcuate nucleus or a functional lesion of catecholamine synthesis. The maximum GH response did not vary over time to the repeated injections of hpGRF-44 in rats with lesions of the arcuate nucleus; however, interruption of catecholamine synthesis resulted in a significant decrease in the GH response to hpGRF-44 over time.
    Regulatory Peptides 02/1984; 8(1):1-8. · 2.11 Impact Factor
  • Article: [Roles of cyclic AMP and calcium in the mechanism of the release of growth hormone by somatocrinin].
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    ABSTRACT: Growth hormone (GH) release from Rat pituitary cell monolayers in response to synthetic somatocrinin (7.8 to 1,000 pmol/l) is paralleled with an increase in cellular cyclic AMP (cAMP) content and efflux of cAMP in the extracellular medium. Somatostatin and blockers of calcium-dependent cellular mechanisms inhibit somatocrinin-induced GH release but only partially decrease (somatostatin, CoCl2) or even increase (trifluoperazine) cAMP levels. Thus, calcium is required for somatocrinin action and GH release is not simply dependent on stimulation of cAMP metabolism.
    Comptes Rendus de l Académie des Sciences - Series III - Sciences de la Vie 02/1984; 299(4):83-8.
  • Article: Isolation and characterization of the bovine hypothalamic growth hormone releasing factor.
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    ABSTRACT: A 44 amino acid peptide with high intrinsic growth hormone releasing activity was isolated from 500 bovine hypothalami by means of acid extraction, immunoaffinity chromatography, gel filtration, and two steps of reverse phase HPLC. The growth hormone releasing factor was structurally characterized by gas phase sequence analysis. Reverse phase liquid chromatography of the native peptide and synthetic replicates showed that the molecule possesses an amide rather than a free acid at its carboxyl terminus. The structure of the peptide was established as: Tyr Ala-Asp-Ala-Ile-Phe-Thr-Asn-Ser-Tyr-Arg-Lys-Val-Leu-Gly-Gln-Leu-Ser-Ala -Arg-Lys-Leu-Leu-Gln-Asp-Ile-Met-Asn-Arg-Gln-Gln-Gly-Glu-Arg-Asn-Gln -Gly-Ala-Lys-Val-Arg-Leu-NH2 using approximately 2 nmol of material.
    Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 01/1984; 117(3):772-9. · 2.48 Impact Factor
  • Article: Isolation and characterization of the porcine hypothalamic growth hormone releasing factor.
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    ABSTRACT: A 44 amino acid peptide with high intrinsic growth hormone releasing activity was isolated from 2500 porcine hypothalami by means of acid extraction, immunoaffinity chromatography, gel filtration, and 2 steps of reverse phase HPLC. The growth hormone releasing factor was structurally characterized by gas phase sequence analyses of the intact peptide and its carboxyl terminal cyanogen bromide digestion fragment. Reverse phase liquid chromatography of the native peptide and synthetic replicates showed that the molecule possesses an amide rather than a free acid at its carboxyl terminus. The structure of the peptide was established as: Tyr-Ala-Asp-Ala-Ile-Phe-Thr-Asn-Ser-Tyr-Arg-Lys-Val-Leu-Gly-Gln-Leu-Ser-Ala-Arg-Lys-Leu-Leu-Gln-Asp-Ile-Met-Ser-Arg-Gln-Gln-Gly-Glu-Arg-Asn-Gln-Glu-Gln-Gly-Ala-Arg-Val-Arg-Leu-NH2 using approximately 6 nmol of material.
    Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 11/1983; 116(2):726-34. · 2.48 Impact Factor
  • Article: Human hypothalamic growth hormone releasing factor (GRF): evidence for two forms identical to tumor derived GRF-44-NH2 and GRF-40.
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    ABSTRACT: Human hypothalamic growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF) was purified by gel filtration and reverse-phase HPLC. Bioassay and two radioimmunoassays of different specificity revealed the presence of two major forms of GRF-activity which coelute with human pancreas GRFs, hpGRF-44-NH2 and hpGRF-40 previously characterized in pancreas tumors. The bioactive material coeluting with hpGRF-44-NH2 is recognized by two antibodies which are directed against the amidated COOH-terminal sequence and the central portion of the GRF-44 peptide. The bioactive GRF which coelutes with hpGRF-40 reacts only with the antibody directed against the central portion of hpGRF. These data strongly suggest that the human hypothalamus contains the same major forms of GRF that were identified in pancreas tumors responsible for acromegaly in the absence of a pituitary tumor.
    Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 09/1983; 114(3):930-6. · 2.48 Impact Factor
  • Article: Human growth hormone releasing factor and somatostatin from two pancreatic tumors: isolation and characterization.
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    ABSTRACT: Peptides with high intrinsic activity to release growth hormone from pituitary cells in tissue cultures were isolated from two different human pancreatic tumors that had caused acromegaly. Homogeneous peptides were obtained after gel filtration and two steps of reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. From one tumor a 44-residue peptide (human pancreas growth hormone releasing factor, hpGRF-44) was isolated, together with two shorter fragments of reduced bioactivity having 40 and 37 amino acid residues (hpGRF-40, hpGRF-37). In contrast, the other tumor contained only one form of GRF which proved to be identical to hpGRF-40. These hpGRFs are indistinguishable from partially purified preparations of hypothalamic growth hormone releasing factor of human, porcine and murine origins with respect to biological activity and are very similar in their physicochemical properties (molecular weight, retention behavior on reverse-phase HPLC, absence of sulfhydryl groups). One of the pancreatic tumors also contained two forms of immunoreactive somatostatin. One form, after isolation and partial microsequencing, was identified as somatostatin-14 with a structure identical to that of the peptide found in other species. The second form has tentatively been identified as somatostatin-28 on the basis of chromatographic behavior.
    Regulatory Peptides 09/1983; 6(4):343-53. · 2.11 Impact Factor
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    Article: Cloning and sequence analysis of cDNA for the precursor of human growth hormone-releasing factor, somatocrinin.
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    ABSTRACT: Molecular cloning has established the primary structures of two precursors of the human pancreas growth hormone-releasing factor (hpGRF-44), somatocrinin. Both polypeptides contain the sequence of hpGRF-44 flanked by basic processing sites. Furthermore, the precursors include a putative signal sequence and a carboxyl-terminal amidation signal for hpGRF-44. The two forms of mRNA code for pre-pro-GRF-107 and pre-pro-GRF-108. Pre-pro-GRF-108 differs from pre-pro-GRF-107 by the insertion of a serine in the carboxyl-terminal portion of the precursor. In vitro translation of tumor poly(A)+ RNA followed by immunoprecipitation with GRF-specific antiserum and gel electrophoresis showed the molecular weight of preprosomatocrinin to be approximately 13,000, which is in good agreement with the molecular weight deduced from the sequences of the cDNA clones.
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 08/1983; 80(14):4311-4. · 9.68 Impact Factor
  • Article: A noninvasive functional lesion of the hypothalamo-pituitary axis for the study of growth hormone-releasing factor.
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    ABSTRACT: Rats were passively immunized with an antiserum against somatostatin and a monoclonal antibody against rat hypothalamic growth hormone-releasing factor (rGRF-mAb) which does not recognize the biologically active 1-40 amino acid fragment of hpGRF-44 (hpGRF-40). Using this paradigm we have observed that the pituitary possesses a resilient capacity to release growth hormone (GH) following repeated injections of hpGRF-40 and that this response follows a dose-dependent relationship.
    Neuroendocrinology 07/1983; 36(6):489-91. · 2.38 Impact Factor
  • Article: Topographical study of the neurons containing hpGRF immunoreactivity in monkey hypothalamus.
    B Bloch, P Brazeau, F Bloom, N Ling
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    ABSTRACT: Hypothalamic neurons producing growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF) have been characterized by immunohistochemistry in monkey hypothalamus, using an antiserum raised against hpGRF1-40, a peptide with GRF activity isolated from a human pancreatic tumor. Cell bodies with hpGRF immunoreactivity were found in arcuate and ventromedial nuclei. From these neurons, bundles of fibers innervate median eminence and appear to terminate in contact with portal vessels. In addition to median eminence, hpGRF immunoreactive fibers were found mostly in the anterior hypothalamus and the arcuate and ventromedial nuclei where they give perineuronal endings. These results correlate with earlier physiological data on hypothalamic control of growth hormone secretion and suggest that GRF is also involved in interneuronal relationships related or unrelated to neurohumoral control of pituitary secretions.
    Neuroscience Letters 06/1983; 37(1):23-8. · 2.11 Impact Factor