ABSTRACT
Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) was the first peptide isolated using molecular approaches instead of traditional biochem ical techniques such as tissue extraction and purification. In fact, CGRP was characterized by Rosenfeld et al as a 37 amino acid peptide generated from the alternative splicing of the calcitonin gene, mostly in neurons of the central and periph eral nervous system.1'4 Two forms (a and b) o f CGRP have been characterized having almost identical biological properties (for a detailed review, see5). Members of the CGRP family also include amylin (AMY) and adrenomedullin (ADM) which share about 50% and 25% sequence homologies, respec tively. Mammalian but more specifically fish calcitonins (salmon, for example) also share sequence homologies with CGRP-related peptides. (Fig. 1.1).
