Disease relevance of GAL

• Very likely the inhibition is due to the presence of some GAL lectins in NLD: The erythrocytes agglutinability (by the Sendai virus and by the Beijing 353/89 H3N2) Influenza virus is enhanced by their incubation with galactose [1].
• VIP-immunoreactive (IR) ganglion cells were the most numerous, and most of them also showed the distinct immunoreaction with galanin [2].

High impact information on GAL

• These results suggest that avian galanin in the oviduct evokes oviposition through mechanisms of the induction of uterine and vaginal contractions [3].
• Sexually dimorphic immunoreactivity of galanin and colocalization with arginine vasotocin in the chicken brain (Gallus gallus domesticus) [4].
• In addition to common substitutions at positions 16, 18, 23, 26 and 29, chicken galanin has phenylalanine at position 28, where all known mammalian galanins have leucine [5].
• We have isolated galanin from chicken intestine by monitoring for the N-terminal glycyltryptophan, which constitutes a conserved part characteristic of the peptide [5].
• Chemical detection of natural peptides by specific structures. Isolation of chicken galanin by monitoring for its N-terminal dipeptide, and determination of the amino acid sequence [5].

Chemical compound and disease context of GAL

• Pancreatic ganglion cells were only immunoreactive with vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), galanin and substance P (SP) antisera [2].

Biological context of GAL

• Localization of galanin and its binding sites in the quail brain [6].
• Unexpectedly, in view of the close phylogenetic relationship between crocodilians and birds, alligator galanin is structurally more similar to sheep galanin (three amino acid substitutions) than to chicken galanin (four amino acid substitutions) [7].
• Intracerebroventricular injection of mammalian motilin, melanin-concentrating hormone or galanin does not stimulate food intake in neonatal chicks [8].
• From late embryonic life, its predominant presence in sympathetic nerves and in muscular layers fits with the functions demonstrated previously in adults of other vertebrates for galanin as a modulator of intestinal motility [9].
• Since galanin-like immunoreactivity is present in the chicken brain, we speculate that the central release of galanin may increase food intake and possibly be involved in a hypothalamic-colonic reflex modulating hindgut motility and generating a defecation [10].

Anatomical context of GAL

• In the chicken adrenal gland, fibres containing GAL were numerous throughout the organ and occurred in close vicinity to both steroidogenic as well as catecholaminogenic cells [11].
• In contrast, only a subpopulation of medullary cells stained for GAL in Phodopus (Djungarian hamster) while the neuropeptide was completely missing in chromaffin cells of rat and pigeon [11].
• The GAL again proves to be the main peptide in chick embryo sympathetic respiratory system [12].
• In the colchicine-pretreated chicken, some nerve cell bodies expressing the immunoreaction for ENK and GAL antisera were detected in the nucleus of the solitary tract and nucleus of the descending trigeminal tract [13].
• The anatomical distribution of nerve fibres containing galanin (GAL), leucine enkephalin (lENK), methionine enkephalin (mENK) and substance P (SP) was investigated in the medulla oblongata of the chicken by means of immunohistochemistry [13].

Associations of GAL with chemical compounds

• We found substance P in both the vagal and sympathetic systems, PACAP in vagal components alone and GAL mainly in the sympathetic system [12].
• Galanin-, VIP-, and tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive fibers were inconspicuous during embryonic life [14].
• The binding of [125I]iodo-avian galanin to brain tissues specifically inhibited as a function of the concentrations of unlabeled avian galanin [6].
• The ontogenesis and distribution of neurons and paraneurons containing immunoreactivities for serotonin (5HT), bombesin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), substance P (SP) and galanin were investigated [15].
• The present results demonstrate that the chicken pancreas is innervated by galanin-containing nerves of intrinsic origin and suggest that galanin coexists with acetylcholine in the chicken pancreas [16].

Other interactions of GAL

• No positivity was found for antibodies against other neural substances including somatostatin, peptide histidine-isoleucine, peptide tyrosine-tyrosine, neuropeptide tyrosine, bombesin, met-enkephalin, serotonin, substance P, galanin, calcitonin gene-related peptide and S-100 protein [17].
• In the first (chromogranin-A and B, Go protein-alpha subunit, tyrosine hydroxylase, HNK-1, and galanin), virtually all medullary and thoracolumbar sympathetic ganglion cells were strongly immunostained from day 4 onward [18].
• Nervous elements immunoreactive for galanin first appeared from days 6 to 7, for neurotensin from days 7 to 8, for neuropeptide Y from 13 to 15 and for bombesin from 15 to 18 [19].
• Immunohistochemical localization of serotonin, galanin, cholecystokinin, and methionine-enkephalin in adrenal medullary cells of the chicken [20].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of GAL

• In the present study, various types of denervation experiments were performed in order to clarify the origins of VIP-, galanin- and neuropeptide-Y-immunoreactive fibers in the chicken carotid bodies [21].
• After nodose ganglionectomy, midcervical vagotomy or excision of the recurrent laryngeal nerve, VIP-, galanin- and neuropeptide-Y-immunoreactive fibers were unchanged in the carotid body region [21].
• Similarly, dog pancreatic GalLI eluted earlier than porcine Gal on reverse-phase HPLC [22].
• The dominant gel filtration peak in each species co-elutes with standard synthetic porcine galanin (Gal), but an apparently smaller molecular weight Gal form was present in human pancreas and intestine and in dog intestine [22].

References