IR vibrational CD (VCD) has been observed for the cyclic pentapeptide cyclo-(-Gly-Pro-Gly-D-Ala-Pro-) in solution in CDBr3. The observed VCD spectra do not resemble the VCD features of any of the previously reported peptide secondary structures, such as alpha-helical, "random coil," or sheet structures, and might be due to the beta-turn contained in this molecule. To shed light onto the origin of the observed spectra, VCD intensity calculations, based on the solution and solid-state structures of cyclo-(-Gly-Pro-Gly-D-Ala-Pro-), have been carried out.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile the fluorescence decay kinetics of tyrosine model compounds [Laws, W. R., Ross, J.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhilos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci
April 1990
Two crystal structures of (1 beta-mercaptopropionic acid) deamino-oxytocin are reported. The 'dry form' in space group C2 has cell dimensions a = 27.08 +/- 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEndocrinology
December 1987
This study reports the synthesis and biological activities of 1-desamino, 7-lysine-(4-azidobenzoyl), 8-arginine vasotocin (d7-N3-AVT). This compound was found to be biologically active in the rat antidiuretic assay (20 U/mg), to behave as an antagonist of vasopressin in the rat pressor assay (pA2 = 6.6), and to yield a half-maximal hydroosmotic response in the isolated toad urinary bladder at a bath concentration of 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHuman salivary secretions are supersaturated with respect to basic calcium phosphates but spontaneous precipitation of these salts from saliva, or surface-induced precipitation of calcium phosphates onto dental enamel, does not normally occur. This unexpected stability has been attributed to the inhibitory activities of two kinds of salivary phosphoproteins: statherin and the acidic, proline-rich phosphoproteins (PRP). Investigation of the structure-function relationships of statherin, the most potent inhibitor of primary (spontaneous) and secondary (seeded) precipitation of calcium phosphate salts in human saliva has been limited to studies of peptide segments obtained from the native peptide by specific proteolysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThree arginine-vasopressin (AVP) analogues in which the proline residue in position 7 was substituted with 4-hydroxyproline were synthesized by solid-phase techniques, and their biological activities were evaluated by antidiuretic, pressor, and uterotonic bioassays. The [7-trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline]AVP, the 1-desamino[7-trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline]AVP, and the 1-desamino[7-cis-4-hydroxy-L-proline]AVP analogues showed a high antidiuretic and strikingly high uterine activity, a sharp decrease in pressor activity, and a better antidiuretic and uterine to pressor selectivity than the parent compound, arginine-vasopressin. The uterine activities are the highest so far assayed in AVP analogues with replacements in position 7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe chemically reactive groups of [8-arginine]vasotocin (AVT) are the alpha-amino group in position 1, the phenolic hydroxyl group of the tyrosyl residue in position 2, and the side-chain functional group of the basic amino acid residue in position 8. Acylation or alkylation of any of these chemically reactive groups yields hormone analogues with sharply diminished biological activities in most assay systems. Since none of the chemically reactive groups in the native AVT (or other neurohypophyseal hormone) sequences is a suitable chemical port for acylation with affinity ligands and reporter groups, we have undertaken the rational design of AVT analogues in which a residue capable of being acylated has been incorporated into points of the AVT structure where structural modifications are expected to have as little effect as possible on biological activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA photoreactive analogue of vasotocin, [1-desamino,4-lysine(azidobenzoyl),8-arginine]vasotocin (4-N3-AVT), has been examined in the isolated toad urinary bladder for biological activity and binding to hormonal receptors. Although 4-N3-AVT induced only a small increase in bladder permeability to water, it behaved as a potent inhibitor of hydrosmotic action of [8-arginine]vasotocin (AVT) and [8-arginine]vasopressin (AVP). The inhibitory action of 4-N3-AVT was readily reversed on removal of the analogue from the serosal bathing solution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo determine the mechanism and pathway of entry of polar nonelectrolytes into bile, we studied first the permeation of [3H]H2O, [14C]urea, [14C]erythritol, [14C]mannitol, [3H]sucrose, [3H]inulin and [3H]dextran across an isolated, in situ perfused segment of the guinea pig's extrahepatic bile duct. All of these molecules, except [3H]dextran, permeated the bile duct. The diffusive permeability coefficients (cm per sec per 10(6) ranged from 248 for [3H]H2O to 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSteady-state and time-resolved fluorescence properties of the single tyrosyl residue in oxytocin and two oxytocin derivatives at pH 3 are presented. The decay kinetics of the tyrosyl residue are complex for each compound. By use of a linked-function analysis, the fluorescence kinetics can be explained by a ground-state rotamer model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe time-resolved fluorescence properties of phenol and straight-chained phenol derivatives and tyrosine and simple tyrosine derivatives are reported for the pH range below neutrality. Phenol and straight-chained phenol derivatives exhibit single exponential fluorescence decay kinetics in this pH range unless they have a titratable carboxyl group. If a carboxyl group is present, the data follow a two-state, ground-state, Henderson-Hasselbalch relationship.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProg Clin Biol Res
October 1983
A model for oxytocin has been previously proposed in which residues 3 and 4 occupy the corner positions in a beta turn (Urry, D. W., & Walter, R (1971) Proc.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpin-lattice relaxation times (T1's) of 13C-enriched glycine accumulated in frog muscles were determined at 1 degrees C by the inversion-recovery (180 degrees -tau-90 degree pulse sequence) method and compared with the values obtained in free solution. The value of T1 for the alpha-13C nucleus of glycine in the tissue was 50% of that obtained in free solution. The observed value for T1 in the tissue was not concentration-dependent, and no difference in chemical shift was observed between tissue and free solution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe cyclic decapeptide antibiotic tyrocidine A was studied by two relatively new methods, viz., correlation proton magnetic resonance (pmr) spectroscopy and double-resonance difference pmr spectroscopy. The correlation method of spectral accumulation provided pmr spectra of good resolution, and in addition the signal-to-noise ratio achieved per unit time of accumulation was much higher than that achieved by use of the conventional continuous wave (cw) method.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
November 1974
The assignments and partial conformational analysis of the 220-MHz (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum of the neurohypophyseal hormones arginine vasopressin and arginine vasotocin in uniformaly deuterated dimethylsulfoxide are reported. The chemical shifts, vicinal coupling constants, temperature coefficients of chemical shifts, and proton-deuterium exchange rates for protons of arginine vasopressin and arginine vasotocin are compared with those for the corresponding protons of the related neurohypophyseal hormones lysine vasopressin and oxytocin. Although to a first approximation the backbone conformations of the hormones exhibit conformational similarities, spectral differences are seen for protons in the amino acid residues that comprise the 20-membered ring moieties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
May 1972
INDOR (Internuclear Double Resonance) spectroscopy is shown to be superior to conventional (spectra obtained not by sweeping, but by maintaining constant the decoupling frequency) nuclear single- or double-resonance techniques for conformational studies of amino acids and amino acid residues in the following ways: (a) INDOR spectra of amino acids are inherently simpler than conventional proton magnetic resonance spectra of amino acids, and INDOR spectra of individual amino acid residues are slightly, if at all, complicated by overlap with either solvent peaks or the transitions of nuclei in other residues. (b) For each amino acid, the side-chain and C(alpha) proton belong to a particular class of spin system characterized by unique INDOR spectra, the pattern of which aids in the proper assignment of spectral lines. (c) For an amino acid with a first-order spin system, INDOR spectra directly reveal hidden chemical shifts and coupling constants.
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