Publications by authors named "L L Maggiora"

Membrane-bound aminopeptidase P (AP-P) participates in the degradation of bradykinin in several vascular beds. We have developed an inhibitor of AP-P called apstatin (1) (N-[(2S, 3R)-3-amino-2-hydroxy-4-phenyl-butanoyl]-L-prolyl-L-prolyl-L-al aninam ide); IC50,human = 2.9 microM.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The synthesis and enzyme inhibition data for a series of thiadiazole urea matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitors are described. A broad screening effort was utilized to identify several thiadiazoles which were weak inhibitors of stromelysin. Optimization of the thiadiazole leads to include an alpha-amino acid side chain with variable terminal amide substituents provided a series of ureas which were moderately effective stromelysin inhibitors, with Ki's between 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bradykinin (Bk), a potent vasoactive and cardioprotective peptide hormone, is almost completely inactivated during a single circulation through the rat lung. It has been hypothesized that membrane-bound aminopeptidase P, which can hydrolyze the Arg1-Pro2 bond of Bk, and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) act in concert to degrade Bk in the pulmonary circulation. To test this hypothesis, an inhibitor of aminopeptidase P was designed and synthesized.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The acceptor substrate specificity of UDP-GalNAc:polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase (GalNAc-transferase) was inferred from the amino acid sequences surrounding 196 O-glycosylation sites extracted from the National Biomedical Research Foundation Protein Database. When analyzed according to the cumulative enzyme specificity model (Poorman, R.A.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A general scheme for obtaining a fluorescent donor/acceptor peptide substrate via solid-phase synthesis methodology is presented. The key feature of this method is the design of a glutamic acid derivative that has been modified on the carboxyl side chain with a 5-[(2'-aminoethyl)-amino]naphthelenesulfonic acid (EDANS) to create a fluorescent donor moiety that can be incorporated near the C-terminus of the peptide substrate. The corresponding fluorescent acceptor group containing a 4-[[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]azo]benzoic acid (DABCYL) can then be attached to the resin-bound peptide at the N-terminus while all side-chain groups are still fully protected.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF