Orphanin FQ is the Major OFQ 1–17-Containing Peptide Produced in the Rodent and Monkey Hypothalamus

Abstract

Quigley, D. I., J. M cDougall, T. Darland, G. Zhzng, O. Ronnekliev, D. K. Grandy and R. G. Allen. Orphanin FQ is the major OFQ 1–17-containing peptide produced in the rodent and monkey hypothalamus. Peptides 19(1) 133–139, 1998.—In order to investigate the processing of OFQ containing peptides in the hypothalamus we have developed a sensitive and quantitative radioimmunoassay for OFQ. We fractionated rodent and monkey hypothalamic extracts by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography and found that the extracts contained multiple peaks of OFQ immunoreactivity with the major peak co-eluting with synthetic OFQ 1–17. Mouse hypothalamic extracts were also fractionated by SDS-PAGE to determine the apparent molecular weights of molecules containing the OFQ peptide. Multiple peaks of OFQ immunoreactivity, ranging in size from approximately 1 to 30 kilodaltons, were detected by this method. These results suggest that OFQ 1–17 is processed to smaller peptides in mouse and monkey hypothalamic neurons.