Synthetic peptide octarphin (TPLVTLFK, a selective agonist of nonopioid β-endorphin receptor) was able to activate in a dose-dependent manner murine macrophages to express nitric oxide (NO) synthase and to produce NO. Octarphin required lipopolysacharide for the optimal induction of NO production. Octarphin-dependent NO production was sensitive to inhibition by dexamethasone and the NO synthase specific inhibitor NG-monomethyl-L-arginine. In the concentration range of 1-1000 nM, octarphin increased the cyclic 3',5'-guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) content in macrophages stimulated with lipopolysacharide. The effect was dependent on the peptide concentration and was maximal at a concentration of 100 nM. Thus, octarphin stimulates both NO and cGMP production in macrophages.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/psc.2603 | DOI Listing |
J Appl Lab Med
January 2025
Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN, United States.
Background: Blood-based biomarkers, especially P-tau217, have been gaining interest as diagnostic tools to measure Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology.
Methods: We developed a plasma P-tau217 chemiluminescent immunoassay using 4G10E2 and IBA493 as antibodies, a synthetic tau peptide as calibrator, and the Quanterix SP-X imager. Analytical validation performed in a College of American Pathologists-accredited CLIA laboratory involved multiple kit lots, operators, timepoints, and imagers.
Nat Commun
January 2025
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
Synthetic Notch (SynNotch) receptors function like natural Notch proteins and can be used to install customized sense-and-respond capabilities into mammalian cells. Here, we introduce an adaptor-based strategy for regulating SynNotch activity via fluorescein isomers and analogs. Using an optimized fluorescein-binding SynNotch receptor, we describe ways to chemically control SynNotch signaling, including an approach based on a bio-orthogonal chemical ligation and a spatially controllable strategy via the photo-patterned uncaging of an o-nitrobenzyl-caged fluorescein conjugate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Org Chem
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States.
Green fluorescent protein (GFP) chromophores are widely studied as fluorescent moieties for sensing and imaging applications. Herein, we present a straightforward synthetic strategy that involves the reaction of glycine amides with 1,3-diketones to form imidazolones through an unusual molecular fragmentation and recombination pathway. Mechanistic investigations, including crossover experiments, inspired a competing strategy that incorporates exogenous ketones into the products, yielding fluorescent GFP chromophore analogues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObes Med
December 2024
The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, MD Anderson Cancer Center & UTHealth Houston Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas Health Science at Houston, Texas, 77030, USA.
Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) have proven to be highly effective in reducing obesity across species and ages, gaining unmet popularity in clinical treatments against obesity. Although extensive research efforts have been made to explore how the brain regulates body weight homeostasis including the effect brought up by GLP-1 and its synthetic analogs GLP-1RAs, the identity of neurons and neural pathways that are responsible for the observed anti-obesity effect of GLP-1RAs remain largely elusive. Excitingly, three recent high-profile studies presented compelling evidence that each argues for the importance of GLP-1Rs in the dorsomedial hypothalamus, hindbrain, or lateral septum, respectively, in mediating the anti-obesity effect of GLP-1RAs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSynth Syst Biotechnol
June 2025
Key Laboratory of Combinatorial Biosynthesis and Drug Discovery, Ministry of Education and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wuhan University, 430072, Wuhan, China.
Pneumocandin B (PB) is a lipohexapeptide synthesized by and serves as the precursor for the widely used antifungal drug caspofungin acetate (Cancidas®). However, the low titer of PB results in fermentation and purification costs during caspofungin production, limiting its widespread clinical application. Here, we engineered an efficient PB-producing strain of by systems metabolic engineering strategies, including multi-omics analysis and multilevel metabolic engineering.
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