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Gach-Janczak K, Biernat M, Kuczer M, Adamska-Bartłomiejczyk A, Kluczyk A. Analgesic Peptides: From Natural Diversity to Rational Design. Molecules 2024; 29:1544. [PMID: 38611824 PMCID: PMC11013236 DOI: 10.3390/molecules29071544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Revised: 03/24/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Pain affects one-third of the global population and is a significant public health issue. The use of opioid drugs, which are the strongest painkillers, is associated with several side effects, such as tolerance, addiction, overdose, and even death. An increasing demand for novel, safer analgesic agents is a driving force for exploring natural sources of bioactive peptides with antinociceptive activity. Since the G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) play a crucial role in pain modulation, the discovery of new peptide ligands for GPCRs is a significant challenge for novel drug development. The aim of this review is to present peptides of human and animal origin with antinociceptive potential and to show the possibilities of their modification, as well as the design of novel structures. The study presents the current knowledge on structure-activity relationship in the design of peptide-based biomimetic compounds, the modification strategies directed at increasing the antinociceptive activity, and improvement of metabolic stability and pharmacodynamic profile. The procedures employed in prolonged drug delivery of emerging compounds are also discussed. The work summarizes the conditions leading to the development of potential morphine replacements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Gach-Janczak
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, Mazowiecka 6/8, 92-215 Lodz, Poland; (K.G.-J.); (A.A.-B.)
| | - Monika Biernat
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wroclaw, F. Joliot-Curie 14, 50-383 Wroclaw, Poland; (M.B.); (M.K.)
| | - Mariola Kuczer
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wroclaw, F. Joliot-Curie 14, 50-383 Wroclaw, Poland; (M.B.); (M.K.)
| | - Anna Adamska-Bartłomiejczyk
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, Mazowiecka 6/8, 92-215 Lodz, Poland; (K.G.-J.); (A.A.-B.)
| | - Alicja Kluczyk
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wroclaw, F. Joliot-Curie 14, 50-383 Wroclaw, Poland; (M.B.); (M.K.)
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Synthesis, Pharmacological Evaluation, and Computational Studies of Cyclic Opioid Peptidomimetics Containing β3-Lysine. Molecules 2021; 27:molecules27010151. [PMID: 35011383 PMCID: PMC8747000 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27010151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2021] [Revised: 12/24/2021] [Accepted: 12/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Our formerly described pentapeptide opioid analog Tyr-c[D-Lys-Phe-Phe-Asp]NH2 (designated RP-170), showing high affinity for the mu (MOR) and kappa (KOR) opioid receptors, was much more stable than endomorphine-2 (EM-2) in the rat brain homogenate and displayed remarkable antinociceptive activity after central (intracerebroventricular) and peripheral (intravenous ) administration. In this report, we describe the further modification of this analog, which includes the incorporation of a β3-amino acid, (R)- and (S)-β3-Lys, instead of D-Lys in position 2. The influence of such replacement on the biological properties of the obtained analogs, Tyr-c[(R)-β3-Lys-Phe-Phe-Asp]NH2 (RP-171) and Tyr-c[(S)-β3-Lys-Phe-Phe-Asp]NH2, (RP-172), was investigated in vitro. Receptor radiolabeled displacement and functional calcium mobilization assays were performed to measure binding affinity and receptor activation of the new analogs. The obtained data revealed that only one of the diastereoisomeric peptides, RP-171, was able to selectively bind and activate MOR. Molecular modeling (docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations) suggests that both compounds should be accommodated in the MOR binding site. However, in the case of the inactive isomer RP-172, fewer hydrogen bonds, as well as instability of the canonical ionic interaction to Asp147, could explain its very low MOR affinity.
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β 2- Homo-Amino Acid Scan of µ-Selective Opioid Tetrapeptide TAPP. Molecules 2020; 25:molecules25102461. [PMID: 32466333 PMCID: PMC7288052 DOI: 10.3390/molecules25102461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Revised: 05/12/2020] [Accepted: 05/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
TAPP (H-Tyr-d-Ala-Phe-Phe-NH2) is a potent, µ-selective opioid ligand. In order to gain further insights into pharmacophoric features of this tetrapeptide, we have performed a β2-Homo-amino acid (β2hAA) scan of the TAPP sequence. To this aim, 10 novel analogues have been synthesized and evaluated for µ-opioid and δ-opioid receptor affinity as well as for stability in human plasma. The derivatives included compounds in which a (R)- or (S)-β2-Homo-Homologue replaced the amino acids in the TAPP sequence. The derivatives with (R)- or (S)-β2hPhe4 turned out to bind µOR with affinities equal to that of the parent. β2hAAs in position 1 and 3 resulted in rather large affinity decreases, but the change differed depending on the stereochemistry. β2-Homologation in the second position gave derivatives with very poor µOR binding. According to molecular modelling, the presented α/β-peptides adopt a variety of binding poses with their common element being an ionic interaction between a protonable amine of the first residue and Asp147. A feature required for high µOR affinity seems the ability to accommodate the ring in the fourth residue in a manner similar to that found for TAPP. Contrary to what might be expected, several compounds were significantly less stable in human plasma than the parent compound.
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Abstract
Solution phase synthesis was the first developed and the only method for peptide synthesis until the solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) introduced by Merrifield revolutionized the way peptides and their analogues are prepared nowadays. However, some peptides because of their chemical structure cannot be synthetized by SPPS, and the "old school" technique is still favorable to make them. Biphalin is a good example. It was first synthesized by Lipkowski almost 40 years ago as a dimeric analogue of enkephalin in which two tetra-amino acid fragments (Tyr-D-Ala-Gly-Phe-) are joined tail to tail by a hydrazide bridge. The synthesis of this octapeptide (Tyr-D-Ala-Gly-Phe-NH-NH ← Phe ← Gly ← D-Ala ← Tyr) and its analogues requires synthesis in solution because routine synthesis on a polymeric support is not possible. Biphalin shows high affinity at both μ and δ opioid receptors and produces a more robust spinal analgesia than morphine after intrathecal administration. Although biphalin and its analogues have been already deeply investigated, a complete description for its analgesic activity is not yet available.Here, we present a detailed procedure for the solution phase synthesis of biphalin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dagmara Tymecka
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura, Warsaw, Poland.
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5
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Gach-Janczak K, Piekielna-Ciesielska J, Adamska-Bartłomiejczyk A, Wtorek K, Ferrari F, Calo' G, Szymaszkiewicz A, Piasecka-Zelga J, Janecka A. In vitro and in vivo activity of cyclopeptide Dmt-c[d-Lys-Phe-Asp]NH 2, a mu opioid receptor agonist biased toward β-arrestin. Peptides 2018; 105:51-57. [PMID: 29684591 DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2018.04.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2018] [Revised: 04/16/2018] [Accepted: 04/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Morphine and related drugs, which are the most effective analgesics for the relief of severe pain, act through activating opioid receptors. The endogenous ligands of these receptors are opioid peptides which cannot be used as antinociceptive agents due to their low bioactivity and stability in biological fluids. The major goal of opioid research is to understand the mechanism of action of opioid receptor agonists in order to improve therapeutic utility of opioids. Analgesic effects of morphine are mediated mostly through activation of the mu opioid receptor. However, in the search for safer and more effective drug candidates, analogs with mixed opioid receptor profile gained a lot of interest. Recently, the concept of biased agonists able to differentially activate GPCR downstream pathways, became a new approach in the design of novel drug candidates. It is hypothesized that compounds promoting G-protein signaling may produce analgesia while β-arrestin recruitment may be responsible for opioid side effects. In this report we showed that replacement of the tyrosine residue in the mu-selective ligand Tyr-c[d-Lys-Phe-Asp]NH2 with 2',6'-dimethyltyrosine (Dmt) produced a cyclopeptide Dmt-c[d-Lys-Phe-Asp]NH2 with mu/delta opioid receptor agonist profile. This analog showed improved antinociception in the hot-plate test, probably due to the simultaneous activation of mu and delta receptors but also significantly inhibited the gastrointestinal transit. Using the bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) assay it was shown that this analog was a mu receptor agonist biased toward β-arrestin. β-Arrestin-dependent signaling is most likely responsible for the observed inhibition of gastrointestinal motility exerted by the novel cyclopeptide.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Karol Wtorek
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, Medical University, Lodz, Poland
| | - Federica Ferrari
- Department of Medical Sciences, Section of Pharmacology and Italian Institute of Neuroscience, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Girolamo Calo'
- Department of Medical Sciences, Section of Pharmacology and Italian Institute of Neuroscience, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Agata Szymaszkiewicz
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, Poland
| | - Joanna Piasecka-Zelga
- Institute of Occupational Medicine, Research Laboratory for Medicine and Veterinary Products in the GMP Head of Research Laboratory for Medicine and Veterinary Products, Lodz, Poland
| | - Anna Janecka
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, Medical University, Lodz, Poland.
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Stefanucci A, Carotenuto A, Macedonio G, Novellino E, Pieretti S, Marzoli F, Szűcs E, Erdei AI, Zádor F, Benyhe S, Mollica A. Cyclic Biphalin Analogues Incorporating a Xylene Bridge: Synthesis, Characterization, and Biological Profile. ACS Med Chem Lett 2017; 8:858-863. [PMID: 28835802 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.7b00210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2017] [Accepted: 07/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
In this work we enhanced the ring lipophilicity of biphalin introducing a xylene moiety, thus obtaining three cyclic regioisomers. Novel compounds have similar in vitro activity as the parent compound, but one of these (6a) shows a remarkable increase of in vivo antinociceptive effect. Nociception tests have disclosed its significant high potency and the more prolonged effect in eliciting analgesia, higher than that of biphalin and of the disulfide-bridge-containing analogue (7).
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Affiliation(s)
- Azzurra Stefanucci
- Dipartimento
di Farmacia, Università di Chieti-Pescara “G. d’Annunzio”, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy
| | - Alfonso Carotenuto
- Dipartimento
di Farmacia, Università di Napoli “Federico II”, Via D. Montesano, 49, 80131 Naples, Italy
| | - Giorgia Macedonio
- Dipartimento
di Farmacia, Università di Chieti-Pescara “G. d’Annunzio”, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy
| | - Ettore Novellino
- Dipartimento
di Farmacia, Università di Napoli “Federico II”, Via D. Montesano, 49, 80131 Naples, Italy
| | - Stefano Pieretti
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Centro Nazionale per la Ricerca e la Valutazione Preclinica dei Farmaci, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Francesca Marzoli
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Centro Nazionale per la Ricerca e la Valutazione Preclinica dei Farmaci, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Edina Szűcs
- Institute
of Biochemistry, Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temesvári krt. 62., H-6726 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Anna I. Erdei
- Institute
of Biochemistry, Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temesvári krt. 62., H-6726 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Ferenc Zádor
- Institute
of Biochemistry, Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temesvári krt. 62., H-6726 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Sándor Benyhe
- Institute
of Biochemistry, Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temesvári krt. 62., H-6726 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Adriano Mollica
- Dipartimento
di Farmacia, Università di Chieti-Pescara “G. d’Annunzio”, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy
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Abstract
This paper is the thirty-eighth consecutive installment of the annual review of research concerning the endogenous opioid system. It summarizes papers published during 2015 that studied the behavioral effects of molecular, pharmacological and genetic manipulation of opioid peptides, opioid receptors, opioid agonists and opioid antagonists. The particular topics that continue to be covered include the molecular-biochemical effects and neurochemical localization studies of endogenous opioids and their receptors related to behavior, and the roles of these opioid peptides and receptors in pain and analgesia, stress and social status, tolerance and dependence, learning and memory, eating and drinking, drug abuse and alcohol, sexual activity and hormones, pregnancy, development and endocrinology, mental illness and mood, seizures and neurologic disorders, electrical-related activity and neurophysiology, general activity and locomotion, gastrointestinal, renal and hepatic functions, cardiovascular responses, respiration and thermoregulation, and immunological responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J Bodnar
- Department of Psychology and Neuropsychology Doctoral Sub-Program, Queens College, City University of New York, Flushing, NY 11367, United States.
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Frączak O, Lasota A, Tymecka D, Kosson P, Muchowska A, Misicka A, Olma A. Synthesis, binding affinities and metabolic stability of dimeric dermorphin analogs modified withβ3-homo-amino acids. J Pept Sci 2016; 22:222-7. [DOI: 10.1002/psc.2869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2015] [Revised: 02/09/2016] [Accepted: 02/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Oliwia Frączak
- Institute of Organic Chemistry; Lodz University of Technology; Zeromskiego 116 90-924 Lodz Poland
| | - Anika Lasota
- Institute of Organic Chemistry; Lodz University of Technology; Zeromskiego 116 90-924 Lodz Poland
| | - Dagmara Tymecka
- Faculty of Chemistry; University of Warsaw; Pasteura 1 02-093 Warsaw Poland
| | - Piotr Kosson
- Mossakowski Medical Research Centre; Polish Academy of Sciences; Pawinskiego 5 01-793 Warsaw Poland
| | - Adriana Muchowska
- Mossakowski Medical Research Centre; Polish Academy of Sciences; Pawinskiego 5 01-793 Warsaw Poland
| | - Aleksandra Misicka
- Faculty of Chemistry; University of Warsaw; Pasteura 1 02-093 Warsaw Poland
- Mossakowski Medical Research Centre; Polish Academy of Sciences; Pawinskiego 5 01-793 Warsaw Poland
| | - Aleksandra Olma
- Institute of Organic Chemistry; Lodz University of Technology; Zeromskiego 116 90-924 Lodz Poland
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