Journal of Molecular Endocrinology

Identification of trypsin-like serine proteases expressed in the rat adrenal following unilateral adrenalectomy. Rats underwent either unilateral adrenalectomy or a sham operation and were sacrificed either 6 or 24h postoperation. The RNA from the remaining gland was extracted and used to synthesise cDNA that was subsequently used as a template in the PCR with degenerate oligonucleotides designed around the conserved residues of the active site of the trypsin family of enzymes. PCR products were labelled with ³³P during synthesis, separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and subsequently cloned and sequenced. Band 1 was identified as tissue plasminogen activator, band 2 as an unknown sequence that we named AsP, and band 3 as adipsin. Reprinted from Cell, Vol 105, Bicknell AB, Lomthaisong K, Woods RJ, Hutchinson EG, Bennett HP, Gladwell RT & Lowry PJ, Characterization of a serine protease that cleaves progamma-melanotropin at the adrenal to stimulate growth, Pages 903–912, Copyright (2001), with permission from Elsevier.