ABSTRACT
Neuropeptides are considered as the largest class of neuromessengers in the central nervous system (CNS) and are classically dened by their synthesis in the neuronal cell body, storage, and transportation in dense-core vesicles and release by highfrequency neuronal activity. Neuropeptides show a more protracted transmission than classic neurotransmitters, are highly plastic and responsive to circumstance, modulate classic neurotransmitter systems, and exert trophic effects (Hökfelt et al. 2000). Neuropeptides are ubiquitously distributed and most often associated with one or more classic neurotransmitters, sustaining the notion of their modulatory functions. They control our mood, energy levels, pain and pleasure reception, body
4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 45 4.2 Multiple Functions of Neuropeptides and Enzymatic Conversion .................46 4.3 Enzyme Inhibitors .......................................................................................... 47 4.4 Cryptic Peptides-from Hypothetical Sequence to Biological Activity ........48 4.5 Strategies for Isolation and Purication for Mass Spectrometry
Analysis (Including Afnity Chromatography) ............................................. 49 4.5.1 Tissue Selection .................................................................................. 49 4.5.2 Procedures for Peptide Extraction ......................................................50 4.5.3 Isolation of Peptides from Complex Biological Mixtures ..................50 4.5.4 Peptide Identication .......................................................................... 51
4.6 Peptide Arrays, Combinatorial Libraries, and Complementary Sequences ... 52 4.7 Pharmacological Approaches in Testing Neuropeptides and Their
Analogs ....................................................................................................... 53 4.7.1 Animal Behavioral Models in Peptide Studies ................................... 55 4.7.2 Validation of Animal Models Used in Studies of Peptides ................ 56
4.8 Final Conclusions and Future Prospects ......................................................... 57 References ................................................................................................................ 58
weight, and ability to solve problems; they also form memories and regulate our immune system. Together, all these properties render neuropeptides as a suitable mechanism for mediating adaptation and responding to homeostatic challenges (Alldredge 2010).
