Tissue distribution of antihypertensive dipeptide, Val-Tyr, after its single oral administration to spontaneously hypertensive rats.

The distribution of an antihypertensive dipeptide, Val-Tyr (VY), in the tissues of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) was investigated in this study. A single oral administration of VY (10 mg/kg) to 18-week-old SHR resulted in a prolonged reduction of systolic blood pressure (SBP) up to 9 h (SBP0h 198.0+/-3.6 mmHg; SBP9h 154.6+/-3.5 mmHg). As a result of VY determination, a roughly 10-fold higher increment of plasma VY level was observed at 1 h than that at 0 h, whereas thereafter the level declined rapidly. In tissues, VY was widely accumulated in the kidney, lung, heart, mesenteric artery and abdominal aorta with the area under the curve over 9 h of more than 40 pmol h/g tissue; of these a higher VY level was observed in the kidney and lung. In addition, a mean resident time (MRT) for each tissue (>5 h except for liver) revealed that VY preferably accumulated in the tissues rather than in the plasma (MRT 3.8 h). Significant reductions of tissue angiotensin I-converting enzyme activity and angiotensin II level were found in the abdominal aorta as well as in the kidney, suggesting that these organs could be a target site associated with the antihypertensive action of VY.     

First chemical synthesis of a scorpion alpha-toxin affecting sodium channels: the Aah I toxin of Androctonus australis hector.

Aah I is a 63-residue alpha-toxin isolated from the venom of the Buthidae scorpion Androctonus australis hector, which is considered to be the most dangerous species. We report here the first chemical synthesis of Aah I by the solid-phase method, using a Fmoc strategy. The synthetic toxin I (sAah I) was renatured in DMSO-Tris buffer, purified and subjected to thorough analysis and comparison with the natural toxin. The sAah I showed physico-chemical (CD spectrum, molecular mass, HPLC elution), biochemical (amino-acid composition, sequence), immunochemical and pharmacological properties similar to those of the natural toxin. The synthetic toxin was recognized by a conformation-dependent monoclonal anti-Aah I antibody, with an IC50 value close to that for the natural toxin. Following intracerebroventricular injection, the synthetic and the natural toxins were similarly lethal to mice. In voltage-clamp experiments, Na(v) 1.2 sodium channel inactivation was inhibited by the application of sAah I or of the natural toxin in a similar way. This work describes a simple protocol for the chemical synthesis of a scorpion alpha-toxin, making it possible to produce structural analogues in time.     

On the mechanisms of oligopeptide reactions in solution and clay dispersion.

Mechanisms of the reactions of representative dipeptides (Gly2, Gly-Ala), oligopeptides (Gly3, Gly4) and the polypeptide (poly-Gly)n) in solution and clay suspensions at 85 degrees C were investigated. The reaction products and their yields were analysed and determined by means of HPLC. Interestingly, hydrolysis, where water molecules act as the reactant, was not the main reaction, even for oligopeptides. Formation of cyclic dipeptides prevailed in the reactions of dimers as well as oligopeptides. The breakdown of oligopeptide molecules proceeded via an intramolecular cyclization reaction. For example, the reaction of Gly3 led to the formation of equal amounts of cyclic dipeptide, c(Gly)2 and Gly. The presence of clay (montmorillonite) significantly increased yields in the reactions of dipeptides but it did not have much effect on the reactions of oligopeptides. However, an opposite effect of clay, protection of poly(Gly)n against decomposition, was proven.     

小牛类表皮生长因子活性肽（c－EGF）的分离纯化及性质

本文报道小牛颌下腺通过酸抽提、ＣＭ５２、ＤＥ５２柱层析、ＳｅｐｈａｄｅｘＧ７５凝胶过滤及ＨＰＬＣ等步,分离纯化到一个分子量为６ｋＤ,等电点为４．６的小肽。该小肽类似人重组表皮生长因子（ｒｈ—ＥＧＦ）的生物活性,具有刺激ＮＲＫ细胞的增殖及刺激新生小鼠的睁眼、萌牙,并具有增加Ａ４３１细胞膜蛋白质磷酸化的功能。氨基酸组成缺少苯丙氨酸及苏氨酸残基。我们命名它为小牛类ＥＧＦ样活性肽（ｃａｌｆＥＧＦ－ｌｉｋｅａｃｔｉｖｅｐｅｐｔｉｄｅ,简称ｃ－ＥＧＦ）。     

人类免疫缺陷病毒1／2型抗体检测酶联免疫试剂盒的研制

采用二聚体合成肽（ＨＩＶ－１ｇｐ４１、ｇｐ１２０、ｐ２４和ＨＩＶ－２ｇｐ３６）包被酶标板条制备成固相抗原,与鼠抗人ＩｇＧ单克隆抗体酶标记物、底物ＴＭＢ及阴阳性参考血清配套制备成ＨＩＶ抗体ＥＩＡ试剂盒,专供检测人血清或血浆ＨＩＶ１／２抗体之用。以荷兰、韩国及万泰试剂作为对照,用该试剂盒对检定所的Ｐａｎｅｌ标准及献血员１５５５０例（其中ＨＣＶ抗体阳性１２８例,ＨＢｓＡｇ阳性４６例）进行检测,四种试剂对检定所Ｐａｎｅｌ标准的１３份阳性血清均呈阳性反应,２８份阴性血清均为阴性;献血员１５５５０例,四种试剂对其中１份血清均呈阳性反应,经Ｗｅｓｔｅｒｎｂｌｏｔ试验证实为阴性,四种试剂的阴性检出率均为９９．９９％。连续制备三批试剂经中国药品生物制品检定所检定,所检项目全部合格;同时委托检定所进行临床考核,４７份阳性血清全部呈阳性反应,１５０份阴性血清全部为阴性。说明该试剂盒具有很好的敏感性和特异性。     

Solid-phase Synthesis and Cellular Localization of a C- and/or N-terminal Labelled Peptide

We report the solid-phase synthesis by the Fmoc strategy of a peptide containing a cysteamide group at its C-terminus. This peptide was subject to further modifications including the linkage of fluorophores, namely lucifer yellow and coumarin respectively, at the C- and/or N-terminals. After incubation with living cultured cells these two probes were localized and it is concluded that the post-synthesis modifications can strongly modify the localization of the peptide.     

Nonconventional Protease Catalysis in Frozen Aqueous Solutions

During the past decade proteases have been widely used as catalysts in peptide synthesis. Unfortunately, they are not ideal ligases. Enzymatic peptide synthesis in frozen aqueous systems has been developed as an approach towards the suppression of competitive reactions. This paper summarizes reports concerning the behaviour of non-enzymatic as well as of enzyme-catalysed reactions when the reaction mixture is frozen. The advantages of freezing the reaction mixture in serine and cysteine protease-catalysed peptide synthesis, the influence of modified reaction conditions and the possible reasons for the yield-increasing effect of freezing are discussed.     

Inclusion volume solid-phase synthesis

Solid-phase synthesis of peptides was carried out using only the volume of the solvent included in the swollen solid-phase resin beads [inclusion volume synthesis]. This approach enables (i) the use of higher concentrations of activated amino acids, resulting in increased coupling rates, (ii) drastically decreased consumption of solvents, and (iii) the construction of multiple peptide synthesizers having virtually no reaction vessels.     

Preferred conformation of peptides rich in Ac8c,a medium-ring alicyclic Cα,α-disubstituted glycine

A complete series of terminally blocked, monodispersed homo-oligopeptides (to the pentamer level) from the sterically demanding, medium-ring alicyclic C^α,α-disubstituted glycine 1-aminocyclooctane-1-carb oxylic acid (Ac₈c), and two Ala/Ac₈c tripeptides, were synthesized by solution methods and fully characterized. The preferred conformation of all the oligopeptides was determined in deuterochloroform solution by IR absorption and ¹H-NMR. The molecular structures of the amino acid derivative Z-Ac₈c-OH, the dipeptide pBrBz- (Ac₈c)₂-OH and the tripeptide pBrBz-(Ac₈c)₃-OtBu were assessed in the crystal state by X-ray diffraction. Conformational energy computations were performed on the monopeptide Ac-Ac₈c-NHMe. Taken together, the results obtained strongly support the view that the Ac₈c residue is an effective β-turn and helix former. A comparison is also made with the conformational preferences of α-aminoisobutyric acid, the prototype of C^{α, α}-disubstituted glycines, and of the other members of the family of 1-aminocycloalkane-1-carboxylic acids (Ac_nc, with n=3, 5–7) investigated so far. The implications for the use of the Ac₈c residue in peptide conformational design are considered.     

The Total Chemical Synthesis of Monocyte Chemotactic Protein-1 (MCP-1)

The affinity-based N^α-amino protecting group tetrabenzo [a,c,g,i]fluorenyl-17-methoxycarbonyl (Tbfmoc) has been utilized as a hydrophobic probe to allow the simple, quick and highly effective isolation of a 76 residue cysteine-containing protein (MCP-1). The base-labile Tbfmoc group can be removed under very mild conditions, which preserve the thiol-con taining protein in the reduced state. Oxidative folding was then used to furnish the biologically active β-chemokine MCP-1.