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Characterization of melanin-concentrating hormone in chum salmon pituitaries

Nature volume 305, pages 321–323 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

Many lower vertebrates exhibit colour change in response to the background. A dual hormonal control of colour change by two antagonistic pituitary melanophorotropic hormones was first postulated in amphibia by Hogben and Slome1. It is well established that the melanotropins α- and β-MSH are responsible for pigment dispersion in the integumentary melanophore of lower vertebrates and that these molecules are derived from a common precursor protein, proopiocortin, by specific processing within the intermediate lobe2. No evidence has been found for an antagonistic hormone in amphibia, although the existence of such a molecule in the pituitary gland of teleost fishes has long been recognized and was termed the melanophore-concentrating hormone by Enami3. Early attempts4,5 to separate the two hormones proved unsuccessful. Recently, Baker and Ball6 re-invoked the dual hormone concept, and it has been suggested7 that a melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is synthesized in the hypothalamus of teleosts and stored and released by the neurohyphophysis. We have now isolated a novel peptide from the pituitary of the salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) possessing an antagonistic function to MSH, and we describe here its chemical and biological characteristics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular Endocrinology, School of Fisheries Sciences, Kitasato University, Sanriku, Iwate, 022-01, Japan

    Hiroshi Kawauchi, Ichiro Kawazoe, Makoto Tsubokawa & Mitsuyo Kishida

  2. School of Biological Sciences, Bath University, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK

    Bridget I. Baker

Authors
  1. Hiroshi Kawauchi
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  2. Ichiro Kawazoe
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  3. Makoto Tsubokawa
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  4. Mitsuyo Kishida
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  5. Bridget I. Baker
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Kawauchi, H., Kawazoe, I., Tsubokawa, M. et al. Characterization of melanin-concentrating hormone in chum salmon pituitaries. Nature 305, 321–323 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/305321a0

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