Immunoreactive Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) Peptides and POMC-Like Messenger Ribonucleic Acid Are Present in Many Rat Nonpituitary Tissues*

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Abstract
Immunoreactive (IR) POMC peptides have been found in several rat nonpituitary tisues. We found IR-ACTH, IR-.beta.-endorphin (.beta.END), and IR-.gamma.MSH in extracts from the following eight rat nonpituitary tissues, listed in order of decreasing POMC peptide concentrations; testis, duodenum, kidney, colon, liver, lung, stomach, and spleen, but not in adrenal or muscle extracts. Concentrations were very low and ranged from less than 0.00003% to 0.0005% of pituitary levels. In testis, duodenum, and colon, IR-.gamma.MSH and IR-.beta.END concentrations were only 5-37% of IR-ACTH levels. Gel filtration chromatography showed that IR-ACTH and IR-.beta.END coeluted in a major peak of 15,000 daltons, which is slightly larger than expected for a C-terminal peptide containing rat ACTH and .beta.-lipotropin. There were also a minor higher mol wt peak of IR-ACTH and IR-.beta.END and a minor IR-.beta.END peak that eluted in the position of mature .beta.END. There was no peak of IR-ACTH that corresponded to the size of mature ACTH. To determine whether these nonpituitary tissues also contained a POMC-like mRNA, which would confirm that the peptides were synthesized locally within the tissues, we examined poly(A) RNA prepared from 10 nonpituitary tissues and total RNA from pituitary by Northern blot hybridization for the presence of a POMC-like mRNA with an exon 3 riboprobe. Pituitary contained a single POMC mRNA species of about 1000 nucleotides. A short POMC-like mRNA of about 800 bases was found in all nonpituitary tissues, except spleen and muscle. Compared to POMC mRNA levels in pituitary, the concentration of POMC-like mRNA was 0.5% in testis and 0.03-0.07% in the other tissues. The ratio of POMC-like mRNA to IR-POMC peptide concentrations in nonpituitary tissues was at least 1000 times greater than that in the pituitary. We conclude that the POMC gene is expressed in many nonpituitary tissues and that either the short POMC-like mRNA is translated much less efficiently or POMC peptides are released or degraded much more rapidly in nonpituitary tissues than in the pituitary.