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The Processing Of Β-Endorphin In Morphine Treated Rats Using Seldi-Tof Mass Spectrometry, Jennifer Y. Edwards

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Endocrine glands secrete peptide hormones that bind to specific receptors, and elicit a response. In the pituitary, prohormone convertases (PC) PC1/3 and PC2 convert inactive prohormones into biologically active peptide hormones. Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) is a precursor molecule that proteolytically cleaves at paired basic residue sites, and produces smaller biologically active peptides, such as adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH), and β-endorphin. β-endorphin is an endogenous opioid peptide hormone that plays a vital role in the body's physiological response to stress, fear, and anxiety. Morphine is an exogenous opioid, used for the treatment of moderate to severe pain and competes …