In this volume of Biomedical Reviews, Rogers and Hermann present an interesting model for the regulation of gastrointestinal function by two peptides, neuropeptide Y (NPY), and peptide YY (PYY), both of which belong to a related group of peptides known as the pancreatic polypeptide (PP)-fold family of peptides. In this review, largely of their own innovative work, they develop the hypothesis that PYY, acting as a humoral (hormonal) agent, may be a major inhibitory factor in the regulation of the upper gastrointestinal tract. In contrast, NPY would appear to be a major excitatory transmitter. How can two structurally homologous peptides produce such divergent actions?
Biomedical Reviews 1997; 8: 70-72.
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