Estrogen receptor alpha (ER alpha) and ER beta are members of the steroid nuclear receptor family that modulate gene transcription in an estrogen-dependent manner. ER mRNA and protein have been detected both peripherally and in the central nervous system, with most data having come from the rat. Here we report the development of an ER beta-selective antibody that cross-reacts with mouse, rat, and human ER beta protein and its use to determine the distribution of ER beta in the murine brain. Further, a previously characterized polyclonal antibody to ER alpha was used to compare the distribution of the two receptors in the first comprehensive description of ER distribution specifically in the mouse brain. ER beta immunoreactivity (ir) was primarily localized to cell nuclei within select regions of the brain, including the olfactory bulb, cerebral cortex, septum, preoptic area, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, amygdala, paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus, thalamus, ventral tegmental area, substantia nigra, dorsal raphe, locus coeruleus, and cerebellum. Extranuclear-ir was detected in several areas, including fibers of the olfactory bulb, CA3 stratum lucidum, and CA1 stratum radiatum of the hippocampus and cerebellum. Although both receptors were generally expressed in a similar distribution through the brain, nuclear ER alpha-ir was the predominant subtype in the hippocampus, preoptic area, and most of the hypothalamus, whereas it was sparse or absent from the cerebral cortex and cerebellum. Collectively, these findings demonstrate the region-selective expression of ER beta and ER alpha in the adult ovariectomized mouse brain. These data provide an anatomical framework for understanding the mechanisms by which estrogen regulates specific neural systems in the mouse.

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Nonpeptide agonists of each of the five somatostatin receptors were identified in combinatorial libraries constructed on the basis of molecular modeling of known peptide agonists. In vitro experiments using these selective compounds demonstrated the role of the somatostatin subtype-2 receptor in inhibition of glucagon release from mouse pancreatic alpha cells and the somatostatin subtype-5 receptor as a mediator of insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells. Both receptors regulated growth hormone release from the rat anterior pituitary gland. The availability of high-affinity, subtype-selective agonists for each of the somatostatin receptors provides a direct approach to defining their physiological functions.

ABS'1RACT Closed circular Moloney murine leukemia virus (M-MuLV) DNA was prepared from recently infected cells and cloned in a X vector. Four classes of cloned M-MuLV inserts were found: Class 1, full length 8.8-kilobase (kb) inserts with two tandem long terminal repeats (LTRs) of 600 base pairs; class 2, 8.2-kb inserts with a single copy of a LTR; class 3, M-MuLV DNA inserts with various portions deleted; and class 4, an 8.8-kb insert with an internal sequence inversion. Determination of nucleotide sequence at the junction between the two LTRs from a class 1 insert suggested that circularization occurred by blunt-end ligation of an 8.8-kb linear DNA. The class 4 molecule had an inversion that was flanked by inverted LTRs, each of which had lost two terminal base pairs at the inversion end points. Also, four base pairs that were present only once in standard M-MuLV DNA were duplicated at either end of the inversion. This molecule was interpreted as resulting from an integrative inversion in which M-MuLV DNA has integrated into itself. Its analysis thus provided explicit information concerning the mechanism by which retrovirus DNA integrates into host cell DNA. Models of retrovirus integration based on bacterial DNA transposition mechanisms are proposed. Retroviruses are eukaryotic RNA viruses that, during their multiplication cycle, produce double-stranded DNA reverse transcripts capable of integrating into the host cell's genome (for review see ref. 1). The sequence of events involved in the integration of retrovirus DNA has yet to be demonstrated.Reverse transcription of retroviral RNA produces linear double-stranded DNA in which both ends contain an identical sequence of 300-1200 nucleotides called a long terminal repeat (LTR) (2-4). A portion of the linear viral DNA molecules can enter the nucleus, whereupon some become circular (5) and contain either one or two copies of the LTR (2, 6). A mouse gene, Fv-1, appears to prevent both circularization and integration (7), which suggests that circularization may be a prerequisite to integration of certain retrovirus DNAs, although other explanations of those results are possible.Integration of retrovirus DNA occurs at multiple chromosomal sites even within a single host cell (8-12); thus integration occurs either at random chromosomal sites or with low site specificity. The integrated proviral DNA has an orientation that is colinear with the unintegrated linear form and has LTR sequences at both ends (10-12), which suggests that retrovirus DNA recombines with host cell DNA at the termini of the LTRs.Molecular cloning of retrovirus-related DNAs has provided a potent method for analyzing the detailed structure of individual molecules (13)(14)(15) The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U. S. C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact.

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A series of nonpeptide somatostatin agonists which bind selectively and with high affinity to somatostatin receptor subtype 2 (sst2) have been synthesized. One of these compounds, L-054,522, binds to human sst2 with an apparent dissociation constant of 0.01 nM and at least 3,000-fold selectivity when evaluated against the other somatostatin receptors. L-054,522 is a full agonist based on its inhibition of forskolin-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in Chinese hamster ovary-K1 cells stably expressing sst2. L-054,522 has a potent inhibitory effect on growth hormone release from rat primary pituitary cells and glucagon release from isolated mouse pancreatic islets. Intravenous infusion of L-054,522 to rats at 50 g/kg per hr causes a rapid and sustained reduction in growth hormone to basal levels. The high potency and selectivity of L-054,522 for sst2 will make it a useful tool to further characterize the physiological functions of this receptor subtype.Somatostatin is widely distributed throughout the central nervous system and various endocrine tissues (1-3). Two biologically active forms of somatostatin are known, a 14-amino acid peptide and an N-terminal extended peptide with 28 amino acids (4 -6). Somatostatin has multiple functions, including modulation of growth hormone, insulin, glucagon, and gastric acid secretion (3, 7-10). Five somatostatin receptors (sst1-5) have been cloned and characterized (11)(12)(13)(14). All five receptors are members of the G protein-linked receptor family (15). Structure-function studies with a large number of peptidal analogs have shown that the Trp 8 -Lys 9 dipeptide of somatostatin is necessary for high-affinity binding (16) and have facilitated the development of potent analogs, including SMS 201-955 (Sandostatin or octreotide) which is clinically used for the treatment of acromegaly and certain endocrine tumors (17-19). We describe here strategies that were successful in designing small molecule subtype 2-selective agonists whose potencies on this receptor exceed somatostatin. Studies utilizing one of these subtype-selective somatostatin peptidomimetics, L-054,522, in both in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstate that somatostatin receptor subtype 2 (sst2) mediates the inhibition of growth hormone release from the rat anterior pituitary as well as glucagon from the rat pancreas. Insulin release is only inhibited at significantly higher concentrations of the compound. These results suggest possible therapeutic applications of selective sst2 agonists. Compound 4 was initially synthesized in a combinatorial library consisting of 20 diamines, 20 amino acids, and 79 amines. The diamines were linked to 4-(4-hydroxymethyl-3-methoxyphenoxy)butyric acid functionalized Tentagel resin via urethane chemistry in a regiorandom way. 9-Fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl amino acids were coupled to the amine resins using standard 1,3-diisopropylcarbodiimide coupling. The 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl groups were removed with piperidine and activated with p-nitrophenyl chloroformate before ...

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