Abstract
Although it has been recognized for a number of years that hormones may exert their effect on target tissues by acting on gene expression either directly, or indirectly, via a second messenger, relatively very little is known about the mechanisms involved. This situation has been made more complicated by the recent discoveries of the cellular polyproteins (Richter et al., 1980a), where a single primary translation product gives rise to several functionally distinct biological entities by a subsequent series of specific pmteolytic cleavages. The best-described example to date is opiocortin, which as a single polypeptide is a precursor to adrenocorticotropin, the endorphins, and the melanocyte-stimulating hormones. There it has been demonstrated that regulation of peptide hormone synthesis takes place not only at the transcriptional but also at the posttranslational level by differential processing and modification of the primary translation product (Herbert, 1981). Since the synthesis of peptide hormones is recognized as being itself under hormonal control, if only in the form of an end product negative-feedback inhibition, these polyproteins provide an important model system in which to examine regulation of gene expression (Numa and Nakanishi, 1981).
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© 1983 Plenum Press, New York
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Richter, D., Schmale, H. (1983). A Cellular Polyprotein from Bovine Hypothalamus. In: McKerns, K.W. (eds) Regulation of Gene Expression by Hormones. Biochemical Endocrinology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4418-6_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4418-6_12
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