help button home button Endocrine Society Endocrinology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS

Endocrinology, doi:10.1210/endo-111-6-1909
Endocrinology Vol. 111, No. 6 1909-1916
Copyright © 1982 by the Endocrine Society.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Copyright Permission
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by PABLO, F. D.
Right arrow Articles by PRUSS, R. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by PABLO, F. D.
Right arrow Articles by PRUSS, R. M.

Insulin Is Present in Chicken Eggs and Early Chick Embryos

FLORA DE PABLO, JESSE ROTH, ELEUTERIO HERNANDEZ and REBECCA M. PRUSS*

Diabetes Branch, National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Maryland 20205

Address requests for reprints to: Dr. Jesse Roth, Diabetes Branch, Building 10, Room 8S–243, National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20205.

Abstract

We showed that insulin appears in the chick embryo before β-cells are recognizable, as well as in the egg constituents even before fertilization. Acid-ethanol extracts of 2- to 8-day-old embryos were gel-filtered on Sephadex G-50. The peak of immunoreactive insulin chromatographed in a position corresponding to that of authentic insulin. The immunoreactive insulin extracted from embryos was approximately 2 ng/g wet wt during early embryogenesis (days 2, 3, and 4), with a 2- to 3- fold increase by days 5 and 6, in conjunction with pancreatic development. The heads of the embryos contributed 22–23% of the total insulin on days 3 and 4, but only 5% by day 5. Based on its reactivity in a pork insulin RIA, chicken insulin RIA, and rat adipocyte bioassay, we concluded that the material is very similar to avian (chicken or turkey) rather than mammalian type insulin. Similar immunological and biological insulin-like activity [but at much lower concentrations (0.2–0.8 ng/ml)] were recovered from the gel-filtered acid-ethanol extracts of yolk and white of unfertilized and fertilized eggs. This study, which shows that insulin is present at a very early stage in ontogeny, extends observations that insulin is native to organisms that lack pancreatic islets, including flies, worms, and microbes.

Footnotes

* Present address: Laboratory of Clinical Sciences, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20205.

Received March 4, 1982.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Poult. Sci.Home page
Y. Hu, Y. Ni, L. Ren, J. Dai, and R. Zhao
Leptin Is Involved in the Effects of Cysteamine on Egg Laying of Hens, Characteristics of Eggs, and Posthatch Growth of Broiler Offspring
Poult. Sci., September 1, 2008; 87(9): 1810 - 1817.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
DiabetesHome page
C. Hernandez-Sanchez, E. Rubio, J. Serna, E. J. de la Rosa, and F. de Pablo
Unprocessed Proinsulin Promotes Cell Survival During Neurulation in the Chick Embryo
Diabetes, March 1, 2002; 51(3): 770 - 777.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
DevelopmentHome page
B Diaz, J Serna, F De Pablo, and E. de la Rosa
In vivo regulation of cell death by embryonic (pro)insulin and the insulin receptor during early retinal neurogenesis
Development, January 4, 2000; 127(8): 1641 - 1649.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
EndocrinologyHome page
A. V. Morales, J. Serna, C. Alarcon, E. J. de la Rosa, and F. de Pablo
Role of Prepancreatic (Pro)Insulin and the Insulin Receptor in Prevention of Embryonic Apoptosis
Endocrinology, September 1, 1997; 138(9): 3967 - 3975.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Endocrinology Endocrine Reviews J. Clin. End. & Metab.
Molecular Endocrinology Recent Prog. Horm. Res. All Endocrine Journals
Copyright © 1982 by The Endocrine Society