Polymorphisms in the transcription factor NRF2 and forearm vasodilator responses in humans.

Objective: Oxidative stress is integral to the development of endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular disease. As NRF2 is a key transcription factor in antioxidant defense, we aimed to determine whether polymorphisms within the promoter region of the gene encoding NRF2 (NFE2L2) would significantly modify vasodilator responses in humans.

Methods: Associations between the -653A/G (rs35652124), -651G/A (rs6706649), and -617C/A (rs6721961) polymorphisms within the NFE2L2 promoter and vascular function were evaluated in healthy African-American (n=64) and white (n=184) individuals.

Opioid bifunctional ligands from morphine and the opioid pharmacophore Dmt-Tic.

Bifunctional ligands containing an ester linkage between morphine and the δ-selective pharmacophore Dmt-Tic were synthesized, and their binding affinity and functional bioactivity at the μ, δ and κ opioid receptors determined. Bifunctional ligands containing or not a spacer of β-alanine between the two pharmacophores lose the μ agonism deriving from morphine becoming partial μ agonists 4 or μ antagonists 5. Partial κ agonism is evidenced only for compound 4.

Role of 2',6'-dimethyl-l-tyrosine (Dmt) in some opioid lead compounds.

Here we evaluated how the interchange of the amino acids 2',6'-dimethyl-L-tyrosine (Dmt), 2',6'-difluoro-L-tyrosine (Dft), and tyrosine in position 1 can affect the pharmacological characterization of some reference opioid peptides and pseudopeptides. Generally, Dft and Tyr provide analogues with a similar pharmacological profile, despite different pK(a) values. Dmt/Tyr(Dft) replacement gives activity changes depending on the reference opioid in which the modification was made.

Novel multiple opioid ligands based on 4-aminobenzazepinone (Aba), azepinoindole (Aia) and tetrahydroisoquinoline (Tic) scaffolds.

The dimerization and trimerization of the Dmt-Tic, Dmt-Aia and Dmt-Aba pharmacophores provided multiple ligands which were evaluated in vitro for opioid receptor binding and functional activity. Whereas the Tic- and Aba multimers proved to be dual and balanced delta/mu antagonists, as determined by the functional [S(35)]GTPgammaS binding assay, the dimerization of potent Aia-based 'parent' ligands unexpectedly resulted in substantial less efficient receptor binding and non-active dimeric compounds.

Influence of the side chain next to C-terminal benzimidazole in opioid pseudopeptides containing the Dmt-Tic pharmacophore.

To improve the structure-activity studies of the lead delta opioid agonist H-Dmt-Tic-Asp*-Bid, we synthesized and pharmacologically characterized a series of analogues in which the side chain next to 1H-benzimidazole-2-yl (Bid) was substituted by those endowed with different chemical properties. Interesting results were obtained: (1) only Gly, Ala, and Asp resulted in delta agonism, (2) Phe yielded delta antagonism, (3) and all other residues except Glu (devoid of any activity) gave mu agonism.

Orally administered H-Dmt-Tic-Lys-NH-CH2-Ph (MZ-2), a potent mu/delta-opioid receptor antagonist, regulates obese-related factors in mice.

Orally active dual mu-/delta-opioid receptor antagonist, H-Dmt-Tic-Lys-NH-CH(2)-Ph (MZ-2) was applied to study body weight gain, fat content, bone mineral density, serum insulin, cholesterol and glucose levels in female ob/ob (B6.V-Lep/J homozygous) and lean wild mice with or without voluntary exercise on wheels for three weeks, and during a two week post-treatment period under the same conditions. MZ-2 (10mg/kg/day, p.

Conformationally constrained opioid ligands: the Dmt-Aba and Dmt-Aia versus Dmt-Tic scaffold.

Replacement of the constrained phenylalanine analogue 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid (Tic) in the opioid Dmt-Tic-Gly-NH-Bn scaffold by the 4-amino-1,2,4,5-tetrahydro-indolo[2,3-c]azepin-3-one (Aia) and 4-amino-1,2,4,5-tetrahydro-2-benzazepin-3-one (Aba) scaffolds has led to the discovery of novel potent mu-selective agonists (Structures 5 and 12) as well as potent and selective delta-opioid receptor antagonists (Structures 9 and 15). Both stereochemistry and N-terminal N,N-dimethylation proved to be crucial factors for opioid receptor selectivity and functional bioactivity in the investigated small peptidomimetic templates. In addition to the in vitro pharmacological evaluation, automated docking models of Dmt-Tic and Dmt-Aba analogues were constructed in order to rationalize the observed structure-activity data.

Further studies on lead compounds containing the opioid pharmacophore Dmt-Tic.

Some reference opioids containing the Dmt-Tic pharmacophore, especially the delta agonists H-Dmt-Tic-Gly-NH-Ph (1) and H-Dmt-Tic-NH-(S)CH(CH2-COOH)-Bid (4) (UFP-512) were evaluated for the influence of the substitution of Gly with aspartic acid, its chirality, and the importance of the -NH-Ph and N(1)H-Bid hydrogens in the inductions of delta agonism. The results provide the following conclusions: (i) Asp increases delta selectivity by lowering the mu affinity; (ii) -NH-Ph and N(1)H-Bid nitrogens methylation transforms the delta agonists into delta antagonists; (iii) the substitution of Gly with L-Asp/D-Asp in the delta agonist H-Dmt-Tic-Gly-NH-Ph gave delta antagonists; the same substitution in the delta agonist H-Dmt-Tic-NH-CH2-Bid yielded more selective agonists, H-Dmt-Tic-NH-(S)CH(CH2-COOH)-Bid and H-Dmt-Tic-NH-(R)CH(CH2-COOH)-Bid; (iv) L-Asp seems important only in functional bioactivity, not in receptor affinity; (v) H-Dmt-Tic-NH-(S)CH(CH2-COOH)-Bid(N(1)-Me) (10) evidenced analgesia similar to 4, which was reversed by naltrindole only in the tail flick. 4 and 10 had opposite behaviours in mice; 4 caused agitation, 10 gave sedation and convulsions.

Inhibition of the development of morphine tolerance by a potent dual mu-delta-opioid antagonist, H-Dmt-Tic-Lys-NH-CH2-Ph.

Three analogues of the dual mu-/delta-antagonist, H-Dmt-Tic-R-NH-CH2-Ph (R = 1, Lys-Z; 2, Lys-Ac; 3, Lys) were examined in vivo: 1 and 2 exhibited weak bioactivity, while 3 injected intracerebroventricularly was a potent dual antagonist for morphine- and deltorphin C-induced antinociception comparable to naltrindole (delta-antagonist), but 93% as effective as naloxone (nonspecific opioid receptor antagonist) and 4% as active as CTOP, a mu antagonist. Subcutaneous or oral administration of 3 antagonized morphine-induced antinociception indicating passage across epithelial and blood-brain barriers. Mice pretreated with 3 before morphine did not develop morphine tolerance indicative of a potential clinical role to inhibit development of drug tolerance.

Synthesis of a potent and selective (18)F-labeled delta-opioid receptor antagonist derived from the Dmt-Tic pharmacophore for positron emission tomography imaging.

Identification and pharmacological characterization of two new selective delta-opioid receptor antagonists, derived from the Dmt-Tic pharmacophore, of potential utility in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging are described. On the basis of its high delta selectivity, H-Dmt-Tic--Lys(Z)-OH (reference compound 1) is a useful starting point for the synthesis of (18)F-labeled compounds prepared by the coupling of N-succinimidyl 4-[ (18)F]fluorobenzoate ([(18)F]SFB) with Boc-Dmt-Tic--Lys(Z)-OH under slightly basic conditions at 37 degrees C for 15 min, deprotection with TFA, and HPLC purification. The total synthesis time was 120 min, and the decay-corrected radiochemical yield of [(18)F]- 1 was about 25-30% ( n = 5) starting from [(18)F]SFB ( n = 5) with an effective specific activity about 46 GBq/micromol.

Role of benzimidazole (Bid) in the delta-opioid agonist pseudopeptide H-Dmt-Tic-NH-CH(2)-Bid (UFP-502).

H-Dmt-Tic-NH-CH(2)-Bid (UFP-502) was the first delta-opioid agonist prepared from the Dmt-Tic pharmacophore. It showed interesting pharmacological properties, such as stimulation of mRNA BDNF expression and antidepression. To evaluate the importance of 1H-benzimidazol-2-yl (Bid) in the induction of delta-agonism, it was substituted by similar heterocycles: The substitution of NH(1) by O or S transforms the reference delta-agonist into delta-antagonists.

[N-allyl-Dmt1]-endomorphins are micro-opioid receptor antagonists lacking inverse agonist properties.

[N-allyl-Dmt1]-endomorphin-1 and -2 ([N-allyl-Dmt1]-EM-1 and -2) are new selective micro-opioid receptor antagonists obtained by N-alkylation with an allyl group on the amino terminus of 2',6'-dimethyl-L-tyrosine (Dmt) derivatives. To further characterize properties of these compounds, their intrinsic activities were assessed by functional guanosine 5'-O-(3-[35S]thiotriphosphate) binding assays and forskolin-stimulated cyclic AMP accumulation in cell membranes obtained from vehicle, morphine, and ethanol-treated SK-N-SH cells and brain membranes isolated from naive and morphine-dependent mice; their mode of action was compared with naloxone or naltrexone, which both are standard nonspecific opioid-receptor antagonists. [N-allyl-Dmt1]-EM-1 and -2 were neutral antagonists under all of the experimental conditions examined, in contrast to naloxone and naltrexone, which behave as neutral antagonists only in membranes from vehicle-treated cells and mice but act as inverse agonists in membranes from morphine- and ethanol-treated cells as well as morphine-treated mice.

Arg-Ile-Tyr (RIY) derived from rapeseed protein decreases food intake and gastric emptying after oral administration in mice.

We previously reported that a bioactive tripeptide Arg-Ile-Tyr (RIY), which has been isolated as an inhibitor for angiotensin I-converting enzyme from the subtilisin digest of rapeseed protein, decreased blood pressure. In this study, we also found that RIY dose-dependently decreased food intake at a dose of 150 mg/kg after oral administration in fasted ddY male mice. The anorexigenic action of RIY was blocked by a cholecystokinin-1 CCK1 receptor antagonist, lorglumide.

Antihypertensive properties of spinach leaf protein digests.

Leaf protein containing approximately 50% rubisco (ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) was obtained from fresh spinach leaf with the use of a simple extraction method. Pepsin and pepsin-pancreatin digests of spinach leaf protein have potent angiotensin-I converting enzyme inhibitory properties with IC(50) values of 56 and 120 microg/mL, respectively. Both digests of leaf protein have antihypertensive effects after oral administration to spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) with minimum effective doses of 0.

New antihypertensive peptides isolated from rapeseed.

Four potent angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptides, IY, RIY, VW and VWIS, were isolated from subtilisin digest of rapeseed protein. Among them RIY and VWIS are new peptides with IC(50) 28 and 30 microM, respectively. All isolated peptides lowered blood pressure of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) following oral administration.