Leptin Chicken
(a) Analysis by SEC-HPLC.
(b) Analysis by SDS-PAGE.
Description
The Leptin is purified by proprietary chromatographic techniques.
Product Specs
The sequence of the first five N-terminal amino acids was determined and was found to be Ala-Val-Pro-Cys-Gln.
Recombinant Chicken leptin was produced according to the a.a. sequence published by the groups of Taouis & McMutry, see Raver et al. Protein Expr Purif. 1998 Dec; 14(3):403-8.
Product Science Overview
Leptin is a hormone primarily involved in regulating energy balance by inhibiting hunger, which in turn diminishes fat storage in adipocytes. While leptin has been extensively studied in mammals, its identification and characterization in avian species, such as chickens, have been more challenging due to the unique genetic and molecular features of avian leptin.
The identification of leptin in chickens (Gallus gallus) was a significant milestone achieved after more than two decades of research. The leptin gene in chickens is highly GC-rich (approximately 70%) and is located in a genomic region with low-complexity repetitive and palindromic sequence elements. These characteristics made it difficult to identify and sequence the leptin gene in chickens .
In chickens, leptin is expressed in various tissues, including the cerebellum, anterior pituitary, embryonic limb buds, somites, and branchial arches. This expression pattern suggests that leptin in chickens may have roles in both adult brain control of energy balance and embryonic development . Unlike in mammals, where leptin is primarily secreted by adipose tissue and acts as a circulating hormone, avian leptin appears to function more in an autocrine/paracrine manner .
The chicken leptin gene was mapped to the distal tip of chromosome 1p, contrary to initial expectations that it would be located on a microchromosome. This mapping was achieved using a radiation hybrid panel of chicken-hamster Wg3hCl2 cells. The high GC-content of the leptin gene and its syntenic group suggests that other similar clusters of genes in GC-rich genomic regions may be missing from the current chicken genome assembly .
The molecular evolution of leptin and its receptor in chickens has been a subject of interest. Early reports of a chicken leptin gene were met with skepticism as independent laboratories were unable to amplify the sequence from chicken tissues. However, the presence of a leptin receptor in chickens indicated that leptin signaling was indeed functional in avian species .
