Welcome

Notice

Abstract submission and early registyration April 15 2012

Travel award March 1st 2012

Call for papers

All abstract will be published in a special issue on NPY-PYY-PP in Neuropeptides

Additionally, in this special issue you are invited to submit a manuscript to Neuropeptides see information in the section Proceeding

Deadline for paper submission is July 4th 2012

History and basal information on this peptide family

The history of this peptide family began with the discovery of the first pancreatic polypeptide (PP) isolated from the avian pancreas (aPP) by Kimmel and collaborators in 1975. Soon thereafter, antibodies raised against aPP were developed and PP-like immunoreactivity (ir) detected in the central nervous system (CNS) of various species. However, as attempts to extract any PP from mammalian brain remained fruitless, it was concluded that the PP-like immunoreactivity present in the brain was due to the existence of a PP-like peptide possessing a relatively different structure. This issue was resolved in 1982 when Tatemoto and co-workers isolated from porcine brain and gut extracts two PP-like peptides which they named neuropeptide Y (NPY) and peptide YY (PYY), respectively. They all consist of 36 amino acids, have molecular weight about 4200 Da and similar hairirpin like structure, also called the PP fold structure. They all belong to the same peptide family designated as the Y, NPY or PP family. 

NPY-like ir is found in both central and peripheral nervous systems  and represents one of the most abundant peptide found in the central nervous system. PYY is believed to act as a hormone since it was mostly found in endocrine cells of the intestine, while PP is mainly found in the pancreatic gland. This peptide family has been implicated in a broad range of biological functions in the central and peripheral nervous systems and peripheral tissues: feeding and drinking behaviors, cardiovascular functions, modulation of several neurotransmitters release, alteration of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, seizures activity, anxiety and depression-like behaviors, neurogenesis, gastrointestinal functions and immune responses. There are 7 receptor subtypes in vertebrates of which 4-5 exist in mammals. In mammals, they produce their biological effects by activating 5 receptors designated and Y₁, Y₂, Y₄, Y₅ and y₆ subtypes. Their receptors have been cloned and belong to the G-protein coupled receptor superfamily. Each NPY receptor subtype exhibits a distinctive pharmacological profile. They are all expressed in mamalian tissues except the y₆ receptor subtype which is only found in few species such as the mouse, dog and rabbit, is a pseudogene in primates and human and it is not expressed in the rat.

Newsletter

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Past meetings

Over the past 25 years, scientist from all over the wold (America, Asia, Europe) have organized conferences to discuss specifically on NPY, PYY and PP

The first non official NPY meeting was organized by Mutt, Tatemoto and Hokfelt in Sweden

 1^st meeting was organized by Janet Allen and James Koening in May 1991 at Baltimore, MD, USA.  

 2^nd conference was organized by Helen Cox and Janet Allen in August 1993 at Cambridge, UK.

 3^th  meeting was organized by William Zipf, Helen Cooke, Richard Rogers, Ian Taylor and Claes Wahlestedt in November 1995, at Newport Beach, CA, USA.

 4^th gathering was organized by Stephen Bloom, Michela Rossi, Tony Goldstone, Donal O’Shea, Satya Kalra and Janet Allen in October 1997, at London, UK.

 5^th meeting was organized by William Colmers, Helen Cox, Donald Gehlert and Rémi Quirion in April 1999, at Grand Cayman.

 6^th conference was organized by Herbert Herzog, Margaret Morris, Erica Potter, Amanda Sainsbury, Lisa Selbie and Annamaria Vezzani in April 2001, at Sydney, AU.

 7^th  meeting was organized  by Annamaria Vezzani, Ana Paula Silva, Armando Cristovao, Claudia Cavadas, Catarina R.Oliveira, Joao Malva and Thierry Pedrazzini in February 2004, at Coimbra, Portugal

 8^th gathering was organized by Satya P. Kalra, Ambikaipakan Balasubramaniam, Annette Beck-Sickinger, Stephen R. bloom, William F. Colmers, William F. Crowley, Herbert Herzog, Tamas Horwath, Akio Inui, Pushpa S. Kalra, Douglas J. MacNeil, Rémi Quirion, Todd E Thiele and Zofia Zukowska in April 2006, at St Petersburg,CA, USA.

 9^th meeting was organized by Akio Inui, Takayuki Naito, Ambikaipakan Balasubramaniam, Annette Beck-Sickinger, Herbert Herzog, Michael M. Meguid, Rémi Quirion, Satya P. Kalra, Seiji Shioda, Thue W. Schwartz and William R. Crowley in March 2008, at Okinawa Japan

The 10th International NPY-PYY-PP meeting will be in Montreal, QC, Canada from June 30 2012 to July 4th 2012

Contact Info E-mail: yvan.dumont@douglas.mcgill.ca

PS This site is under construction

More information will be added on a regular basis