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An inhibitory peptide of angiotensin-converting enzyme was purified from porcine plasma. The final preparation showed IC50 values of 4.2, 0.6, and 0.9 microgram/ml for angiotensin-converting enzymes from guinea pig serum, rabbit lung, and monkey brain, respectively. The amino acid sequence of the inhibitor was determined as leucyl-valyl-leucine by Edman procedure. This structural observation was supported by mass spectrometric analysis.

We have previously shown that antibodies specific for hemoglobin S could be fractionated by absorption of an antiserum to hemoglobin S to Sepharose containing a synthetic oligopeptide. betaS (1-13), corresponding to the first 13 amino acid residues of the beta chain of hemoglobin S. We report here that this antibody population, anti-betaS (1-13), shows considerable restriction of heterogeneity in isoelectric focusing studies and monospecificity on velocity ultracentrifugation in the presence of hemoglobin S. The binding of various hemoglobin species to anti-betaS (1-13) was studied using a double antibody radioimmunoassay with [14C]carbamoylated hemoglobin S. Carbonmonoxy-, oxy-, met-, and cyanmethemoglobin S reacted equally with the antibody, but deoxyhemoglobin (with or without organic phosphates) reacted differently. Hemoglobin A and several hemoglobin mutants with alterations in the NH2-terminal region of the beta chain did not displace labeled hemoglobin S from anti-betaS (1-13). BETAS chains reacted with the antibody, but less well than hemoglobin S, while betaA and alpha chains, and globins did not react with the antibody. The synthetic peptide, betaS (1-13), used for fractionation, reacted with the antibody about 300-fold less efficiently than hemoglobin S. BetaS (3-13) was even less reactive, while smaller peptides which included the valine residue at position 6 displaced little of the tracer [14C]carbamoylated hemoglobin S at concentrations as high as 10(-2) M. We interpret these results to indicate that this method of immunoabsorption has produced a monospecific subfraction of antibodies which is specific for the NH2-terminal region of the beta chain of hemoglobin S in its native conformation.

Fragmented elastic fibers are known to be associated with atherosclerotic lesions, angitis and age-related changes of the vessel wall. We produced fragmented elastic fibers in the thoracic aorta by immunizing rabbits with elastin peptides. Fragmented elastic fibers in the media were associated with degenerative smooth muscle cells, and the number of fine elastic fibers beneath the endothelium was decreased. The lesion presented here resembled age-related changes of the vessel wall. We also evaluated the influence of elastase administration on the formation of this lesion. In rabbits receiving elastin immunization with simultaneous intraperitoneal administration of elastase, fragmented elastic fibers were apparently decreased and the appearance of the elastic fibers resembled that of normal rabbits. These data suggest the possibility that administered elastase blocks the formation of fragmented elastic fibers in the aortic wall.

We have found that hypertonic medium inhibited the receptor-mediated uptake of the chemotactic peptide N-formylnorleucylleucylphenylalanine without affecting fluid-phase endocytosis by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs). Morphological and biochemical evidence demonstrated that cells in hypertonic medium did not accumulate peptide in a receptor-mediated manner. However, the cells continued to form endosomes containing fluid-phase markers. Furthermore, the content of these endosomes was processed normally, i.e., both digested and intact material were released into the medium. The inhibition of receptor-mediated uptake was a function of the tonicity. Partial inhibition occurred in 0.45 and 0.6 osmolar medium and maximal inhibition occurred in 0.75 osmolar medium. The inhibition was independent of the solute used to increase the tonicity: sodium chloride, sucrose, and lactose all inhibited uptake to similar extents. Hypertonic medium had little effect on saturable peptide binding. However, it did prevent the clustering of surface molecules as indicated by the inhibition of capping of fluorescent concanavalin A. In addition, hypertonic medium prevented the peptide-stimulated increase in cytosolic calcium levels as measured by quin 2 fluorescence. The tonicity dependence of the inhibition of quin 2 fluorescence paralleled the inhibition of receptor-mediated uptake.

A radioinhibitor binding assay and an enzyme inhibition assay have been developed to measure plasma levels of CGP 38 560, a potent human renin inhibitor. The detection limit of the assays was between 0.5 and 1 pmol/ml. There was a good correlation (r = 0.989) between the two assays for the measurement of human plasma spiked with CGP 38 560 in concentrations from 1.9 nM to 12 microM. Intra-assay variability was 6.1-17.3% and 4.4-27.2% for the radioinhibitor binding assay and the enzyme inhibition assay, respectively. Interassay variability was 6.0-28.2% and 3.8-28.4% for the radioinhibitor binding assay and the enzyme inhibition assay, respectively. Blood samples were collected during a pharmacological study performed in normotensive human volunteers on an unrestricted diet who were infused during a 30-minute period with CGP 38 560 A (50 micrograms/kg). Similar values for the concentrations of renin inhibitor in plasma were obtained with the radioinhibitor binding assay and the enzyme inhibitor assay, and there was a significant correlation between values obtained with the two different methodologies (r = 0.94). The plasma levels of renin inhibitor reached a maximum at the end of infusion and then decreased rapidly, indicating a short plasma half-life. The changes in biochemical parameters, plasma renin activity, and plasma concentration of active renin could be related to the concentrations of CGP 38 560 measured in the plasma.

The brain and plasma levels of immunoactive delta sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP) as well as the permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to radioiodinated N-Tyr-DSIP (125I-DSIP) were measured at 0400, 0800, 1200, 1600, 2000, and 2400 hr in rats in a normal 12-hr-light/12-hr-dark cycle and at 0800 in rats in constant light or constant dark. Both brain and blood levels of immunoactivity showed statistically significant diurnal changes, whereas the measurement of BBB permeability varied in a regular fashion over time without the changes reaching statistical significance. Immunoactive levels of DSIP in both the plasma and the brain were higher and permeability of the BBB to 125I-DSIP increased in both the constant light and especially the constant dark groups in comparison with the cycled 0800 group. Diurnal variations continued to occur in the blood levels of immunoactive DSIP in the constant dark animals. Studies with radioiodinated serum albumin (RISA) showed that these findings did not result from a change in brain hemodynamics. Immunoactive levels of DSIP in the plasma correlated with brain immunoactive levels and with BBB permeability to 125I-DSIP. The increase in penetration of 125I-DSIP into the brain that occurred with changes in the lighting cycle appeared to be magnified by pre-treatment with aluminum. The results show interrelationships among various aspects of the neuroendocrine axis for DSIP and their modulation by physiological factors.

Antisera raised against the carboxy-terminal decapeptide (KENLKDCGLF) of transducin-alpha detected the 40 kDa, major pertussis toxin substrate of human neutrophils. The antisera also detected this protein in undifferentiated HL-60 and U937 cells, and revealed an approx. 2-fold increase in protein/mg membrane protein with differentiation into mature phagocytic cells. The results provide direct immunochemical evidence for the presence of a novel, pertussis toxin-sensitive guanine nucleotide-binding protein in human leukocytes.

Pacidamycins are nucleosidyl-peptide antibiotics which have activity only against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Their MICs for other organisms such as Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus aureus, most Streptococci and other Pseudomonas species are greater than 100 micrograms/ml. These compounds had no activity against erythromycin-susceptible Streptococci. The MICs for Streptococcus pyogenes with constitutive- and inducible-type of macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin resistance were 12.5 and 25 micrograms/ml, respectively. The MICs against P. aeruginosa ranged from 8 to 64 micrograms/ml. The activity of these compounds was 1 to 2-fold less in serum than broth. Time-kill curves were performed using 4 and 8 times the MIC of pacidamycin 1. It was bactericidal against P. aeruginosa (3 log10 decrease in 4 to 6 hours). At 24 hours, resistant mutants were found in the cultures. The MICs of piperacillin and gentamicin for these mutants were the same as for the parent strain. The frequency of resistance to these compounds was less than 3.5 x 10(-6). The resistant mutants were stable after 10 transfers in antibiotic-free medium. The pacidamycins were inactive against P. aeruginosa in mouse protection test. After a single subcutaneous injection of 25 mg/kg of pacidamycin 1, the Cmax was approximately 50 micrograms/ml and the serum half-life was 0.5 hour.

Five peptides from the NH2-terminal region of the beta chain of hemoglobin S, betaS (1-13), betaS (3-13), betaS (1-8), betaS (4-10), And betaS (4-8), have been synthesized by a rapid solid phase method based on the Merrifield procedure. In addition, one peptide, betaS (3-13), has also been synthesized by the original Merrifield method. We have shown that the products of the two methods are comparable, that gel filtration is a useful method for removing truncated fragments of the desired oligopeptide, and that measurement of the efficiency of coupling at each step is an important adjunct to amino acid analysis in determining purity. Peptides of the purity achieved by these methods may be used to fractionate antibodies to the native hemoglobin S, in the characterization of antigen-binding properties of specific antibodies, and in other studies of peptide-protein interactions.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure was developed and applied to analysis of the pharmacologically active MIF analogue pareptide in human plasma. The procedure involves formation of a fluorescent 7-chloro-4-nitrobenzyl-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-Cl) pareptide derivative followed by separation of the NBD derivative from plasma components on a 30-cm microparticle octadecylsilane bonded column. The separated derivative was quantitated using a short-wavelength excitation fluorometric detector. The detection limit of pareptide in plasma samples was 5 ng or 17 pmoles per ml of plasma. In the absence of plasma, the corresponding on-column detection limit was 0.5 pmoles.

1. The role of the enkephalin-protecting plasma substances in the protection of non-opioid peptides from enzyme hydrolysis has been studied in laboratory animals and in man. 2. The results obtained indicate that all the peptides hydrolyzed by the plasma enzymes are also protected from the hydrolysis by the enkephalin-protecting substances. 3. The protection is fairly uniform in all the species and for all the peptides examined. However, in the human species the protection of leucine enkephalin is considerably higher than the average. These results are discussed in terms of a possible differential inhibition of the different plasma aminopeptidases.

Satiety means an internal state that leads to termination of eating. We have isolated an anorexigenic glycoprotein (M.W. 50,000 dalton) from human and rat erythrocyte membrane and from rat liver plasma membrane. The substance isolated from all these membrane sources has almost same onset and offset anorectic effect in rats deprived of food for 96 h as well as in normally fed rats without any rebound. Similar properties of membrane anorectic substance and plasma satietin indicated that it has membrane origin. The results also suggest that the loss of appetite in chronic diseases involving damage or turn-over of cell membranes could be due to release of a glycopeptide from cellular membranes into the circulation.

Delta sleep-inducing peptide has been shown to exert extra-sleep effects as well as effects on sleep. In this study, the concentrations of DSIP-like immunoreactivity were measured by radioimmunoassay in the plasma of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). They were found to be about 25% higher in SHR plasma than in the plasma of the normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WK) controls. DSIP was then infused for 10 days by osmotic minipump (200 micrograms/kg/day) into SHR. This resulted in in maintenance of BP at a level of about 200 mm Hg as compared with the significant increase to about 220 mm Hg after 10 days in the SHR controls infused with 0.9% NaCl. After daily SC injection of a single dose of 200 micrograms/kg DSIP for each of 5 days in SHR, findings were similar. The results raise the possibility of an involvement of DSIP in the regulation of BP in SHR.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity of the cerebral microcirculation of anesthetized dogs was measured from cerebral venous outflow curves after bolus injection of a synthetic ACE substrate, [3H]benzoyl-phenylalanyl-alanylproline ([3H]BPAP), into a common carotid artery. Cerebral BPAP metabolism was quantified by measuring the concentration of [3H]benzoyl-phenylalanine (the product of BPAP hydrolysis by ACE) in blood samples from the sagittal sinus after occlusion of the lateral sinuses with bone wax. Instantaneous BPAP metabolism in each sample increased as a function of time after injection, suggestive of perfusion heterogeneity, and averaged 59 +/- 4% (n = 8) over a single pass during normoxia and normocapnia. The ratio of Vmax (the maximal rate of cerebral BPAP metabolism) to Km (the concentration at Vmax/2), was calculated from instantaneous outflow curves using a model based on first-order kinetics. Increases in cerebral blood flow during either hypoxia or hypercapnia significantly reduced BPAP metabolism to 33 +/- 3 (n = 7) and 24 +/- 3% (n = 5), respectively; however, Vmax/Km of ACE activity (0.19 +/- 0.03 ml/s) was not affected by either condition. The lack of change in apparent kinetics of ACE activity (i.e., in Vmax/Km) during hypoxia or hypercapnia suggests that recruitment of cerebral capillaries was not a quantitatively significant factor in controlling BPAP metabolism with this degree of either hypoxia or hypercapnia.

A radioimmunoassay (RIA) for DSIP-like material was established in unextracted human plasma. Most of the immunoreactivity was found in a "large" fraction while a much smaller amount co-eluted with DSIP from Sephadex as a "free" fraction. Both peaks progressively increased with increasing amounts of added DSIP. Acidification, but not treatment with charcoal-dextran, resulted in a relative decrease in the "large" peak and an increase in the "free" peak. This RIA, therefore, appears to measure both bound and free forms of DSIP-like immunoreactivity, the levels of which were higher at 4 p.m. than at 8 a.m.

Incubation of intact mouse reticulocytes with bestatin (a competitive inhibitor of aminopeptidases) produced the accumulation of low molecular weight intermediates in the degradation of puromycinyl-peptides or analog-containing proteins that had been pulse labeled with L-[1-14C]leucine. A large fraction of the radioactive protein was degraded to trichloroacetic acid-soluble products within 10 min. In the presence of bestatin (0.5 mg/ml), one-fourth of these products appeared to be dipeptides, tripeptides, or both: they were resistant to ninhydrin at acid pH (a treatment that decarboxylates only free amino acids) except after intensive acid hydrolysis, and they eluted from a Sephadex G-10 column with an apparent average size of 300 daltons. These radioactive products did not appear if incorporation of the tracer was prevented by prior treatment with cycloheximide, demonstrating that they originated from polypeptide precursors. Thus, a peptidase inhibitor has been successfully used in the production of low molecular weight intermediates in the in vivo degradation of cellular proteins.

Evidence is presented that tripeptides enter human erythrocytes via saturable transport system(s) at rates similar to those previously described for dipeptides (King, G.F. and Kuchel, P.W. (1985) Biochem. J. 227, 833-842) but that the transmembrane flux rates for tetrapeptides are considerably less. 1H spin-echo NMR spectroscopy was used to monitor the coupled uptake and hydrolysis of peptides by red cells, since it enabled the simultaneous measurement of the levels of substrates and products of peptidase-catalysed reactions in suspensions with haematocrits similar to those found in vivo. Weighted non-linear least-squares regression of the integrated Michaelis-Menten equation onto progress curves obtained from the hydrolysis of Tyr-Gly-Gly and Gly-Gly-Gly in RBC lysates gave Km = 2.11 +/- 0.08 and 23.4 +/- 0.9 mmol/l and Vmax = 307 +/- 3 and 905 +/- 22 mmol/h per 1 packed cells, respectively. In whole cell suspensions, the rate of hydrolysis was considerably less and was dominated by the transmembrane flux of tripeptide. Progress curve analysis thus yielded the steady-state kinetic parameters for peptide transport; the values were Km = 11.6 +/- 1.1 and 56 +/- 18 mmol/l and Vmax = 12.9 +/- 3.0 and 36.4 +/- 3.2 mmol/h per 1 packed cells, respectively, for the previously mentioned peptides. The rate of transport of the tetrapeptide Gly-Gly-Gly-Gly was considerably less than either of the tripeptides. The above mentioned steady-state kinetic parameters were used in computer simulations of the coupled uptake and hydrolysis of tripeptides by human erythrocytes under physiological conditions; these simulations revealed certain similarities between the rates of peptide uptake by erythrocytes and the intestine in vivo.

The distribution of chemotactic peptide receptors on polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) was visualized using tritiated chemotactic peptide, N-formylmethionyl-leucylphenylalanine, coupled to hemocyanin (HY-FMLP). This probe was biologically active and the number of HY-FMLP molecules bound to the cell in a saturable manner corresponded closely to the number of peptide receptors characterized for rabbit peritoneal polymorphonuclear leukocytes (Sullivan, S. J., and S. H. Zigmond, 1980, J. Cell Biol., 85:703-711). Cells exhibiting locomotion have a polar morphology easily recognized in the scanning electron microscope. HY-FMLP bound to these cells was asymmetrically distributed with the highest density of HY-FMLP bound to the midregion of the cell. There were very few particles bound to the tail regions. The binding to the leading ruffles was variable but usually less than to the midregion. Addition of high concentrations of uncoupled FMLP eliminated HY-FMLP binding, confirming that the hemocyanin observed was a marker for the saturable chemotactic peptide receptor. The asymmetry in receptor distribution was seen on cells that had been stimulated by low concentrations of either FMLP or another chemotactic factor, leukotriene B4. Thus, peptide binding to the receptor was not required for the development of the asymmetric distribution. The low density of receptors in the tail region of the cell was consistent with the decreased responsiveness of the tail to chemotactic stimulation (Zigmond, S. H., H. I. Levitsky, and B. J. Kreel, 1981, J. Cell Biol., 89:585-592). The receptor asymmetry may contribute to the polar behavior exhibited by polymorphonuclear leukocytes and would be expected to quantitatively modify the directional information available to a cell in a gradient of chemotactic peptide.

A peptide of approximately 300-400 daltons exhibiting in vitro chemotactic activity for human polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocytes, with a preference for the eosinophil series, was isolated from extracts of anaplastic lung carcinomas of the large squamous cell type obtained from three patients with marked peripheral blood hypereosinophilia and eosinophilic infiltration of the tumors and surrounding normal pulmonary tissues. This chemotactic factor was termed ECF-LSC (eosinophil chemotactic factor of lung squamous cell carcinoma). ECF-LSC appeared in the urine of two of the patients in increasing quantities late in the course of their disease and was also elaborated by long-term cultures of dispersed tumor cells from the same two patients. Three anaplastic large cell bronchogenic carcinomas which were not associated with tumor tissue or peripheral blood eosinophilia, a bronchogenic adenocarcinoma from a patient with only peripheral eosinophilia, and a renal cell carcinoma metastatic to the lungs and associated with transient pleural tissue and fluid eosinophilia were all devoid of ECF-LSC. ECF-LSC from tumor tissue extracts, urine, and tumor cell culture medium was comparable to the mast cell-associated tetrapeptides of the eosinophil chemotactic factor of anaphylaxis (ECF-A) in size, but eluted from Dowex-1 at pH 5.0-3.5 in contrast to the more acidic ECF-A tetrapeptides which eluted at pH 3.2-2.2 ECF-LSC, like the tetrapeptides of ECF-A, had a secondary chemotactic activity for neutrophil PMN leukocytes, but not mononuclear leukocytes, and deactivated both eosinophil and neutrophil PMN leukocytes so that they would not respond to a subsequent in vitro chemotactic stimulus. Eosinophils from the two patients with urinary excretion of ECF-LSC and the highest concentrations in tumor extracts were hyporesponsive in vitro to homologous and heterologous chemotactic stimuli, suggesting that ECF-LSC had deactivated the eosinophils in vivo.

We have studied 16 healthy men to evaluate preliminary pharmacodynamics and kinetics of BW443C given by i.v. infusions. Four volunteers received escalating doses at weekly intervals, starting at 0.1 microgram.kg-1 for 60 min and increasing to a maximum of 2.0 micrograms.kg-1.min-1 for 180 min. Subsequently 12 different subjects received single i.v. infusions of 10 micrograms.kg-1.min-1 for 20 min. Subjective effects were reported and objective measurements made of central nervous and cardiovascular effects. Blood was sampled at intervals on all occasions, plasma concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay and pharmacokinetic profiles were analysed using NONLIN. Dry mouth and some nasal stuffiness were reported and postural hypotension occurred in 5/16 subjects at plasma concentrations greater than 0.8 microgram.ml-1. Supine blood pressure was well maintained in all subjects and hypotension resolved within 60-90 min of discontinuing the infusion. There was no evidence of sedation, mood change, nausea, vomiting, miosis, change in accommodation or respiratory depression. Rapid infusions produced transient feelings of warmth, heavy eyelids, heavy legs, and increased bowel sounds, which resolved despite increasing plasma concentrations. The disposition of the peptide was adequately described by a 2-compartment model with a mean +/- SD plasma clearance of 123 +/- 18 ml.min-1 and a half-life of 2.0 +/- 0.4 h.

The procedure described is rapid, fairly simple, and inexpensive. The method may easily be used even in a small clinical laboratory. This method, based on a specific reaction which gives a product, hippuric acid azlactone, which absorbs in the visible region, avoids the interference of reagents and solvents encountered in the UV spectrophotometric assay, in which hippuric acid is determined directly.

The chemotaxis of leukocytes appears to be initiated by the binding of chemotactic factors to the surface of these cells. N-Formylated peptides induce chemotaxis and lysosomal enzyme secretion of leukocytes; because these peptides are available in a purified radiolabeled form, they have been useful in the characterization of receptors for chemotactic factors. Equine polymorphonuclear leukocytes secrete lysosomal enzymes but do not exhibit chemotaxis in respone to the N-formylated peptides, even though they have a high-affinity cell surface receptor for these agents. The specificity of the equine receptor resembles the specificity of the receptor on chemotactically responsive leukocytes from other species. Equine polymorphonuclear leukocytes may thus be an excellent model for the study of the events that lead to a biological response following receptor occupancy.

The spectrophotometric method for the determination of angiotensin-converting enzyme in serum using p-hydroxyhippuryl-L-histidyl-L-leucine as substrate is commercially available as a test kit. It shows excellent linearity over the whole range of catalytic concentration found in serum. We describe several modifications of this method to simplify and economize the procedure.