Other entities represented in this entry:
HGNC Approved Gene Symbol: NPFF
Cytogenetic location: 12q13.13 Genomic coordinates (GRCh38) : 12:53,506,688-53,507,484 (from NCBI)
Neuropeptide FF (NPFF) and the related neuropeptide AF (NPAF) were originally isolated from bovine brain using an antibody against the molluscan peptide FMRF-NH2. NPFF has been detected in human serum. In rat, these FMRF-amide-related peptides have been shown to have wide-ranging physiologic effects, including the modulation of morphine-induced analgesia, elevation of arterial blood pressure, and increased somatostatin secretion from the pancreas. By searching a human EST database, Perry et al. (1997) identified epididymis ESTs encoding sequences that are homologous to the bovine FMRF-amide-related peptides. Using these ESTs to screen a human testis cDNA library, they isolated a full-length cDNA encoding the precursor of both NPFF and NPAF; the authors called this precursor the 'FMRF-amide-like peptide precursor,' or FMRFAL. The deduced 113-amino acid precursor polypeptide contains a putative hydrophobic leader sequence. Within the precursor, both FMRF-amide-related peptides are flanked by single or pairs of basic amino acids, which are potential endopeptidase cleavage sites. The 8-amino acid human NPFF is identical to bovine NPFF but is predicted to be cleaved from its precursor polypeptide with an additional 3 amino acids at its N terminus; this 11-amino acid peptide is named NPSF. In an experiment measuring the effects of NPFF and NPSF on neural activity in rat spinal cord, bovine NPFF was active, whereas NPSF was inactive. The authors suggested that the 3 N-terminal amino acids of NPSF are removed by a peptidase to form the functional NPFF peptide. The 18-amino acid human NPAF differs from bovine NPAF by 2 amino acids. Human and bovine NPAF modulated neural activity in rat spinal cord in an indistinguishable manner.
The gene encoding the NPFF and NPAF precursor contains 3 exons (Perry et al., 1997).
Perry, S. J., Yi-Kung Huang, E., Cronk, D., Bagust, J., Sharma, R., Walker, R. J., Wilson, S., Burke, J. F. A human gene encoding morphine modulating peptides related to NPFF and FMRFamide. FEBS Lett. 409: 426-430, 1997. [PubMed: 9224703] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1016/s0014-5793(97)00557-7]