Primary sequence of two regions of mouse pro-adrenocorticotropin/endorphin

The amino acid sequences of two previously uncharacterized regions of the mouse anterior pituitary common precursor to adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and beta-endorphin (pro-ACTH/endorphin) were determined. Portions of the NH2-terminal region of pro-ACTH/endorphin (called the 16K fragment) and the region between ACTH and beta-endorphin (called gamma-lipotropin) were sequenced by Edman degradations of biosynthetically labeled immunoprecipitated proteins and by Edman degradations of purified 16K fragment and beta-lipotropin. With a combination of these two approaches, 29 of the first 34 residues at the NH2-terminal end of the mouse 16K fragment were determined. The NH2-terminal region of the mouse 16K fragment was found to be nearly identical with the homologous porcine and bovine molecules. The complete amino acid sequence of the NH2-terminal region of gamma-lipotropin was determined. In contrast to the highly conserved nature of the 16K fragment, mouse gamma-lipotropin was found to differ substantially from the gamma-lipotropins of other species. Although the NH2-terminal and beta-melanotropin-like regions of the mouse gamma-lipotropin are similar to the corresponding regions of other gamma-lipotropins, the intervening region of mouse gamma-lipotropin is substantially shorter than it is in other gamma-lipotropins. In addition, mouse gamma-lipotropin lacks the pair of basic amino acids that normally mark the proteolytic cleavage site used to produce beta-melanotropin from gamma-lipotropin.