Lezcano N E, González M, Fidelio G D, Celis M E
Departamento de Farmacología, CIQUIBIC, Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina.
Peptides. 1996;17(2):345-7. doi: 10.1016/0196-9781(95)02101-9.
Gangliosides are particularly enriched in neuron cell membranes and they were postulated to be involved in the modulation of membrane-mediated transduction of information. In this study we explore the possibility that the increase in cAMP tissular levels induced by alpha-MSH may be modulated by the action of exogenously added gangliosides. We measured the level of cAMP in both tissues and medium in response to the alpha-MSH in slices previously incubated with total bovine brain gangliosides (TBG). When slices were exposed to TBG, the effect of alpha-MSH on inducing an increase in the content of cAMP was practically twice compared to the changes induced by alpha-MSH or TBG alone. We conclude that the presence of gangliosides may facilitate the alpha-MSH interaction with its receptor, increasing the cAMP levels in slices containing the CP and Acc nuclei.
