Oxytocin

Oxytocin is a nine-amino acid cyclic neuropeptide (Cys-Tyr-Ile-Gln-Asn-Cys-Pro-Leu-Gly-NH2) with a disulfide bridge between the two cysteine residues. It is produced primarily in the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei of the hypothalamus and released into both the systemic circulation via the posterior pituitary and the central nervous system via dendritic release. Oxytocin acts through the oxytocin receptor (OXTR), a G-protein coupled receptor (Gq-coupled) that activates phospholipase C, increasing intracellular calcium. Research applications are remarkably diverse, spanning social bonding and trust behavior studies, maternal behavior and pair bonding investigation, smooth muscle contraction models (uterine and mammary gland), lactation and parturition signaling, stress response modulation through HPA axis attenuation, anxiolytic effects, pain modulation, wound healing (through anti-inflammatory and angiogenic effects), metabolic regulation (including effects on adipogenesis and glucose homeostasis), and autism spectrum disorder research.