Chorionic GonadotropinSheldon J. Segal This volume is devoted to the chemistry, immunology, molecular biology, and physiology of the human chorionic gonadotropin, heG. For this glycoprotein molecule the course from discovery to chemical deciphering covered about fifty years. It was in 1928 that Ascheim and Zondek reported that urine from pregnant women contains something that stimulates the ovaries of mice or rats. This provided the basis for the famous A-Z test for pregnancy and for the "rabbit test" modification introduced by Friedman. As researchers sought to find more sensitive responses to heG, they used a wide variety of species including the South African aquatic toad, Xenopus Zaevis, the terrestrial toad of South America, Bufo arinarus, and the African weaver finch, EupZeetes afra. The weaver finch feather reaction was particularly noteworthy, for it disclosed a non-gonadal response to heG/LH. In retrospect, this may have been an important evolutionary clue to the realization that the designation of the hormone as a "gonadotropin" may have been only partially descriptive of the molecule's physiological function--a concept that is gaining attention, as the papers in this 1980 volume divulge. |
Contents
Early Studies of Chorionic Gonadotropin | 1 |
Primary and Secondary Biologic Activities | 17 |
Chorionic Gonadotropin in Rodents | 37 |
Copyright | |
21 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
adenylate cyclase amino acid anti-hCG antibodies antisera antiserum assay ATCC bacteria Bahl binding Biochem Biol biological activity Birken blastocyst Braunstein buffer C-terminal cancer Canfield cDNA Chem choriocarcinoma chromatography Clin clones concentration corpus luteum cross-reactivity culture desensitization detectable electrophoresis eluted Endocrinol Endocrinology enzyme extracts Figure first-trimester fraction glycoprotein hormones H-Y antigen hCG and hCGa hCG molecule hCG subunits hCG-like hCGB Hodgen human chorionic gonadotropin immunological immunoprecipitated immunoreactive incubation indicated inhibition Lane large molecular luteinizing hormone medium membrane Metab molecular weight mRNA ND ND ND ng/ml normal oligosaccharides ovarian ovary peptide pituitary placental cells placental tissue PMSG pregnancy presence production protein purified hCG puromycin rabbit radioactive radioimmunoassay receptor residues secretion Sephadex Sephadex G-100 serum species of hCG specific stimulating structure studies subunits of human synthesis of hCG synthetic peptides testis trophoblastic tumor urine Vaitukaitis vitro