Mycothiol (MSH; AcCys-GlcN-Ins) is the major thiol found in Actinobacteria and has many of the functions of glutathione, which is the dominant thiol in other bacteria and eukaryotes but is absent in Actinobacteria. MSH functions as a protected reserve of cysteine and in the detoxification of alkylating agents, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, and antibiotics. MSH also acts as a thiol buffe...

Although some cultured human melanoma cell lines are responsive to melanotropins (melanocyte-stimulating hormones [MSH]), the prevalence and tissue distribution of MSH receptors in melanoma are unknown. We report here the use of an in situ binding technique to demonstrate specific MSH receptors in surgical specimens of human melanoma. The distribution and binding properties of specific MSH bind...

Improved enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods have been developed for the determination of femtomole amounts of mycothiol (MSH), the main low-molecular-weight thiol in mycobacteria. The immunoassays utilize an affinity-purified rabbit polyclonal antibody that is highly specific for the pseudodisaccharide moiety of MSH. MSH was first biotinylated by the thiol-specific reagent 3-(N-m...

Alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) is an endogenous neuropeptide that is known for its anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities. We recently demonstrated that α-MSH possesses staphylocidal activity and causes bacterial membrane damage. To understand the role of its amino acid sequences in the staphylocidal mechanism, in the present study we investigated the antimicrobial activitie...

In this paper, initial work on MSH at Dr. Lerner's laboratory in Portland, Oregon, from 1952 to 1954 is presented. The development of an in vitro bioassay method enabled us to show increased urinary excretion of MSH in Addison's disease. The ability of MSH to increase skin pigmentation in man was also demonstrated. Subsequent work on MSH during the past thirty years is reviewed, such as charact...

Wu, Chia-Shan Jenny, David R. Greenwood, Janine M. Cooney, Dwayne J. Jensen, Michele A. Tatnell, Garth J. S. Cooper, and Kathleen G. Mountjoy. Peripherally administered desacetyl -MSH and -MSH both influence postnatal rat growth and associated rat hypothalamic protein expression. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 291: E1372–E1380, 2006. First published July 25, 2006; doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00480.2005....

Desacetyl-alpha-MSH is more abundant than alpha-MSH in the brain, the fetus, human blood, and amniotic fluid, but there is little information on its ability to interact with melanocortin receptors. The aim of this study is to compare and contrast the ability of desacetyl-alpha-MSH and alpha-MSH to couple melanocortin receptors stably expressed in HEK293 cells, to the protein kinase A (PKA) sign...

BACKGROUND Alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH), a pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) derivative, is a neuropeptide with potent anti-inflammatory properties that inhibits tissue injury in a wide array of inflammation models. OBJECTIVE To determine if alpha-MSH is involved in the development of congestive heart failure (CHF) with the specific aim of examining its peripheral source and one...

leaf and root explants from 10 to 20 day– old seedlings of plantago lanceolata, were cultured on ms, msh, nt and b5 basal media with various concentrations of different plant growth regulators. the best callus induction was obtained with 0.4 mgl-1 2,4-d in msh i with 400 callus index. callus growth was significantly stimulated (p=0.05)with 0.8 mgl-1 2,4-d and 0.1 mgl-1 kin in msh ii, with 7...

When aqueous extract of bovine pituitary gland was fractionated by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), the effluent contained a prominent peak of melanotropic activity which did not correspond to amelanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH), /?-MSH, adrenocorticotropic hormone, or p lipotropin. The novel factor (labeled “post-a-MSH”), responsible for onethird of the melanotropic activity in th...