THE PHYLOGENY OF ENKEPHALINS - SPECULATIONS ON THE ORIGINS OF OPIOID PRECURSORS

Authors
DORES RM MCDONALD LK GOLDSMITH A DEVICHE P RUBIN DA
Citation
Rm. Dores et al., THE PHYLOGENY OF ENKEPHALINS - SPECULATIONS ON THE ORIGINS OF OPIOID PRECURSORS, Cellular physiology and biochemistry, 3(3-4), 1993, pp. 231-244
Citations number
50
Categorie Soggetti
Biology,"Cytology & Histology
Journal title
Cellular physiology and biochemistry → ACNP
ISSN journal
10158987
Volume
3
Issue
3-4
Year of publication
1993
Pages
231 - 244
Database
ISI
SICI code
1015-8987(1993)3:3-4<231:TPOE-S>2.0.ZU;2-B
Abstract
Enkephalins, dynorphins and beta-endorphin are endogenous opiate-like substances that are differentially distributed among vertebrate taxa. Enkephalins have the widest distribution, and the proenkephalin gene w ould appear to represent the ancestral opioid gene. This review will c onsider the following hypothesis: the evolution of the opioids occurre d as a result of two duplications of the proenkephalin gene. In this h ypothesis, the first duplication event would have given rise to the pr oopiomelanocortin gene, the precursor for beta-endorphin, and the seco nd duplication event would have given rise to the prodynorphin gene.