Identification of human, rat and mouse nocistatin in brain and human cerebrospinal fluid

NOCISTATIN was recently isolated from bovine brain and shown to block hyper algesia and allodynia induced by nociceptin and prostaglandin (PG) E-2. The counterparts of human, rat and mouse are deduced from their precursor prep ronociceptin to be 30, 35, and 41 residue peptide respectively. To identify these mature forms of nocistatin, three peptides were synthesized and a de tection program for nocistatin was developed, using high pressure liquid ch romatography (HPLC) along with specific radioimmunoassay (RIA). Nocistatin extracted from human, rat and mouse brain were subjected to HPLC and nocist atin-like immunoreactivity (NST-IR). was determined. All three species show ed two NST-IR peaks, one of which coincided with that of the corresponding putative nocistatin. The same NST-IR was also detected in human cerebrospin al fluid (CSF). NeuroReport 10:1537-1541 (C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wil kins.