Synthesis and biological activity of a linear fragment of the atrial natriuretic factor (ANF)

Big ANF: large-molecular-weight ANF in plasma. I. Gel filtration and affinity chromatography studies

A large molecular form of immunoreactive atrial natriuretic factor (irANF) was demonstrated in plasma of rabbit and rat on the basis of gel filtration experiments. This big ANF was not retained by octadecylsilane cartridges and cross-reacted with four anti-ANF antisera of different specificities. Gel filtration in acid, but not in 8 M urea, resulted in material with elution characteristics of irANF. Affinity chromatography and gel electrophoresis of big ANF suggested that the material was similar to albumin. However, high concentrations of big ANF were found in analbuminemic rats, with characteristics similar to those seen in rabbit and normal rats (affinity and gel chromatography and gel electrophoresis). We thus conclude that big ANF represents a bound form of ANF in circulation and that the carrier is similar to but not identical with albumin.

Inactivation of atrial natriuretic factor in mice in vivo: crucial role of enkephalinase (EC 3.4.24.11)

Atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) is a hormone whose potent hemodynamic and renal actions might be beneficial in several cardiovascular disorders, but whose poor oral absorption and extremely rapid inactivation in vivo have so far prevented its therapeutic use. We have developed simple tests to study the peptidases responsible for the hydrolysis of ANF in mice in vivo and to assess the effects of peptidase inhibitors. In mice injected with 125I-ANF in low amounts the radioactivity present in kidney, a major target organ for the hormone, was analysed by HPLC, precipitation with trichloracetic acid (TCA) and in a membrane binding assay. All three parameters indicated a rapid inactivation of the hormone: 20 s after injection of 125I-ANF the intact hormone represented less than 20% of the total kidney radioactivity. Oral pretreatment with acetorphan, a potent enkephalinase inhibitor resulted in a marked increase in the amount of intact 125I-ANF (6-fold), TCA-precipitated (5-fold) and membrane bound radioactivity (4-fold) in the kidney; the total kidney radioactivity was enhanced by approximately 2-fold. A similar protective effect was observed with other enkephalinase inhibitors, i.e. thiorphan and kelatorphan; the latter was effective at a 10-fold higher dosage. In contrast, a large variety of inhibitors of metallo-, cysteine, serine and aspartic proteinases had no or only marginal effects. Instead, captopril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, reduced the total and TCA-precipitable radioactivity in the kidneys. Aminopeptidase inhibitors, used either alone or in conjunction with acetorphan, displayed significant but limited protective effects. The crucial role of enkephalinase in ANF inactivation in vivo suggests that inhibitors of this peptidase could be used in a novel therapeutic approach to cardiovascular or renal diseases by protecting endogenous ANF.

Hydrolysis of alpha-human atrial natriuretic peptide in vitro by human kidney membranes and purified endopeptidase-24.11. Evidence for a novel cleavage site

alpha-Human atrial natriuretic peptide (hANP) is secreted by the heart and acts on the kidney to promote a strong diuresis and natriuresis. In vivo it has been shown to be catabolized partly by the kidney. Crude microvillar membranes of human kidney degrade 125I-ANP at several internal bonds generating metabolites among which the C-terminal fragments were identified. Formation of the C-terminal tripeptide was blocked by phosphoramidon, indicating the involvement of endopeptidase-24.11 in this cleavage. Subsequent cleavages by aminopeptidase(s) yielded the C-terminal dipeptide and free tyrosine. Using purified endopeptidase 24.11, we identified seven sites of hydrolysis in unlabelled alpha-hANP: the bonds Arg-4-Ser-5, Cys-7-Phe-8, Arg-11-Met-12, Arg-14-Ile-15, Gly-16-Ala-17, Gly-20-Leu-21 and Ser-25-Phe-26. However, the bonds Gly-16-Ala-17 and Arg-4-Ser-5 did not fulfil the known specificity requirements of the enzyme. Cleavage at the Gly-16-Ala-17 bond was previously observed by Stephenson & Kenny [(1987) Biochem. J. 243, 183-187], but this is the first report of an Arg-Ser bond cleavage by this enzyme. Initial attack of alpha-hANP by endopeptidase-24.11 took place at a bond within the disulphide-linked loop and produced a peptide having the same amino acid composition as intact ANP. The bond cleaved in this metabolite was determined as the Cys-7-Phe-8 bond. Determination of all the bonds cleaved in alpha-hANP by endopeptidase-24.11 should prove useful for the design of more stable analogues, which could have therapeutic uses in hypertension.

Role of endopeptidase-24.11 in the inactivation of atrial natriuretic peptide

The circulating form of atrial natriuretic factor is a 28-residue peptide containing a 17-residue disulphide-linked ring. It has important actions on the kidney, largely on its haemodynamics, and at other sites including the adrenal cortex and CNS. It has a short half-life in vivo and is rapidly inactivated when incubated with kidney microvillar membranes. Of the battery of peptidases present in that membrane, only one, endopeptidase-24.11, is responsible for initiating the attack, and this commences with hydrolysis of the Cys7-Phe8 bond within the ring. Hydrolysis at this and other points has been shown to inactivate the peptide and this information has pointed the way to the synthesis of resistant analogues.

Atrial natriuretic peptides cleaved by endopeptidase are inactive in conscious spontaneously hypertensive rats

The dose-related natriuretic and depressor responses to atrial natriuretic peptides (ANP) 99-126, 103-126 and 103-123 were determined in unanesthetized spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and were compared to the activities of their Cys105-Phe106 ring-opened metabolites. These metabolites were previously identified as the major initial products formed by incubation of the intact peptides with neutral endopeptidase (NEP). The areas over the curves (AOC) of the depressor responses to the intact peptides were dose-related and, at 30 nmole/kg, iv were greatest for ANP 99-126 and 103-126 (833 +/- 241 and 1157 +/- 221 mm Hg x min). Thirty nmole/kg of ANP 103-123, a possible product of NEP cleavage of ANP 103-126, produced a lesser AOC (442 +/- 152 mm Hg x min) than did either of the longer peptides. The AOC responses to 100 nmole/kg of the ring-opened metabolites of ANP 99-126, 103-126 and 103-123 (105 +/- 80, 153 +/- 43 and 148 +/- 64 mm Hg x min) were not significantly different from the effect of vehicle treatment (84 +/- 23 mm Hg x min). Although the natriuretic responses to increasing doses of the intact peptides did not occur in a linear fashion, sodium excretion was maximally elevated by 24 +/- 4, 16 +/- 3 and 10 +/- 3 microEq/kg/min by 3 nmole/kg of ANP 99-126, 30 nmole/kg of ANP 103-126 and 10 nmole/kg of ANP 103-123, respectively. In contrast, the natriuretic responses to 100 nmole/kg of the ring-opened metabolites of ANP 99-126, 103-126 and 103-123 (1 +/- 0, 5 +/- 2 and 2 +/- 1 microEq/kg/min, respectively) were not significantly different from the response to vehicle treatment (3 +/- 1 microEq/kg/min). In conclusion, three ring-opened products of NEP cleavage of ANP 99-126, 103-126 and 103-123 were inactive in conscious SHR.

Atrial natriuretic factor: a hormone secreted by the heart

It is now known that cardiac atria play an important role in blood pressure and volume regulation. Mechanical distension of the atria results in the release of a potent diuretic and natriuretic agent or agents termed the atrial natriuretic factor (ANF). Several structurally related forms of ANF exist in man and it is thought that these represent precursory forms of a single optimally active molecule and/or the presence of more than one form of active ANF. The chemical structure of ANF between different mammalian species is similar. ANF receptors have been identified in kidney, brain, vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells, tracheal and bronchial smooth muscle and the adrenal glands of many mammalian species, including man. This would suggest that ANF influences blood pressure and volume homoeostasis by affecting any one of a number of biochemical or physiological mechanisms via different target tissues. ANF is now considered a potentially valuable therapeutic agent for the treatment of hypertension and congestive heart failure. Synthesis of potent receptor antagonists could be extremely useful in the treatment of various clinical situations which are produced or complicated by endogenously produced ANF, such as chronic orthostatic hypotension.

The hydrolysis of alpha-human atrial natriuretic peptide by pig kidney microvillar membranes is initiated by endopeptidase-24.11

alpha-Human atrial natriuretic peptide, a 28-amino-acid-residue peptide, was rapidly hydrolysed by pig kidney microvillar membranes in vitro, with a t1/2 of 8 min, comparable with the rate observed with angiotensins II and III. The products of hydrolysis were analysed by h.p.l.c., the pattern obtained with membranes being similar to that with purified endopeptidase-24.11 (EC 3.4.24.11). No hydrolysis by peptidyl dipeptidase A (angiotensin I converting enzyme, EC 3.4.15.1) was observed. The contribution of the various microvillar membrane peptidases was assessed by including specific inhibitors. Phosphoramidon, an inhibitor of endopeptidase-24.11, caused 80-100% suppression of the products. Captopril and amastatin (inhibitors of peptidyl dipeptidase A and aminopeptidases respectively) had no significant effect. Hydrolysis at an undefined site within the disulphide-linked ring occurred rapidly, followed by hydrolysis at other sites, including the Ser25--Phe26 bond.

Synthesis and activity profiles of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) analogs with reduced ring size

Three deletion analogs of the atrial natriuretic peptide, [desGly-120]-ANP(103-126), [desLeu119, desGly120]ANP(103-126) and [desGly118,120,-desLeu119]-ANP(103-126), were synthesized by the solid-phase method. Successive elimination of the non-functional residues in positions 120-118 of the peptide sequence resulted in a progressive potency reduction in the rabbit aorta assay, in the bioassay monitoring suppression of aldosterone secretion from bovine zona glomerulosa cells and in a binding assay based on displacement of radioiodinated ANP(101-126) from bovine zona glomerulosa cell membranes. The fact that the deletion analogs showed quantitatively different relative potencies in each of the three in vitro assay systems was interpreted as further evidence in support of the existence of two or more classes of ANP receptors or binding sites.