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- ***************************************************
- * Corticotropin-releasing factor family signature *
- ***************************************************
-
- Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) (corticoliberin) [1] is a hormone from
- the hypothalamus that regulates the release of corticotropin (ACTH) from
- the pituitary gland. CRF is evolutionary related to a number of other active
- peptides which are listed below.
-
- - Urotensin 1 from the urophysis of fish. Like CRF, urotensin I acts as a
- corticotropin-releasing factor.
- - Sauvagine from frog skin, a peptide with a potent hypotensive action that
- elicits a diuretic effect.
- - Diuretic hormone (DH) from the tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta) and from
- locusts [2]. DH is involved in the regulation of fluid secretion in these
- insects.
-
- All these hormones are peptides of about 40 amino acid residues which are C-
- terminally amidated and processed from a larger precursor protein. We derived
- a signature pattern of conserved residues, running from position 4 to 19 in
- these peptides.
-
- -Consensus pattern: [PQ]-x-[LIVM]-S-[LIVM]-x(2)-[PST]-[LIVMF]-x-[LIVM]-L-R-
- x(2)-[LIVM]
- -Sequences known to belong to this class detected by the pattern: ALL, except
- for diuretic hormone 2 from tobacco hornworm.
- -Other sequence(s) detected in SWISS-PROT: NONE.
- -Last update: June 1992 / Text revised.
-
- [ 1] Lederis K.P., Okawara Y., Richter D., Morley S.D.
- Prog. Clin. Biol. Res. 342:467-472(1990).
- [ 2] Lehmberg E., Ota R.B., Furuya K., King D.S., Applebaum S.W.,
- Ferenz H.-J., Schooly D.A.
- Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 179:1036-1041(1991).
-