Symmetrical disulfide bonds as S-protecting groups and their cleavage by dithiothreitol: synthesis of oxytocin with high biological activity

Synthesis and biological activities of [7-(azetidine-2-carboxylic acid)]-oxytocin and -lysine-vasopressin

[7-(Azetidine-2-carboxylic acid)]-oxytocin and -lysine-vasopressin have been synthesised by a (6 + 3) strategy using protected hexapeptide acids with preformed disulphide bridges, and their biological activities have been investigated. All activities were reduced but not to the same extent. In assays of pressor and antidiuretic activity it was observed consistently that the responses to the vasopressin analogue were of shorter duration than responses to lysine-vasopressin of the same amplitude.

Biofunctional evaluation of a hydrogen bond stabilizing the conformation in the cyclic part of oxytocin

[5-beta-Malamidic acid]oxytocin was synthesized to study the importance of the hydrogen bond between the C=O of Tyr2 and the peptide N-H of Asn5 for the stabilization of a biologically functional conformation of oxytocin. This analog lacks the peptide N-H at residue 5 required for the formation of a hydrogen bond with the C-O of Tyr2. [5-beta-Malamidic acid] oxytocin exhibited 45.1 +/- 2.5 U/mg and 65.6 +/- 5.9 U/mg of uterotonic activity, in vitro, in the absence and in the presence, respectively, of Mg2+, 147 +/- 14 U/mg of uterotonic activity in vivo, 203 +/- 13 U/mg of milk-ejecting activity, 0.37 +/- 0.03 U/mg of pressor activity and 0.32 +/- 0.29 U/mg of antidiuretic activity. It is concluded that devoid of the hydrogen bond under question, an oxytocin-like peptide can still assume the conformation needed to interact with the oxytocin receptors.

Synthesis of oxytocin using iodine for oxidative cyclization and silica gel adsorption chromatography for purification

Oxytocin (OT) was synthesized employing the solid phase method. Resins made of copolymers of polystyrene-1%-crosslinked with divinylbenzene gave better yields (73-95%) of Z-Cys(Bzl)-Tyr(Bzl)-Ile-Gln-Asn-Cys(Bzl)-Pro-Leu-Gly-NH2 (I) than 2%-crosslinked resins (10--56%). Reduction of I with Na-liq.NH3 and oxidation with I2-MeOH at -40 degrees minimized dimer and polymer formation, and resulted in good yields (49--54%) of OT. The large volumes of MeOH required when several grams of I are reduced and then oxidized were rapidly evaporated in vacuo, and the residue was desalted by dissolving the peptide in a small volume of glacial acetic acid and filtering to remove the salt. OT was purified by adsorption chromatography on a silica gel column with combinations of MeOH-CHCl3 of graded polarity. Oxytocin elutes with 33% MeOH-CHCl3. After two purification steps by adsorption chromatography, the resulting OT was found to be homogeneous. The hormone was characterized chemically and found to be active biologically.

Partial purification and characterization of post-proline cleaving enzyme: enzymatic inactivation of neurohypophyseal hormones by kidney preparations of various species

The inactivation of the neurohypophyseal hormones arginine vasopressin and oxytocin, both 14C-labelled in the C-terminal glycine residue, by enzymes present in kidney homogenates of various species has been investigated, and some of the enzymes responsible have been partially purified and characterized. The Leu-Gly peptide bond of oxytocin is generally most effectively cleaved by kidney homogenates, although with certain species enzymic activity hydrolyzing the Pro-Leu bond is significant. Degradation of arginine vasopressin is slower than oxytocin in all species studied, and appears to occur by a different overall mechanism since cleavage of the Pro-Arg bond is more significant than hydrolysis of the Arg-Gly bond. The enzyme releasing glycinamide from oxytocin and the "Post-Proline Cleaving Enzyme", which releases C-terminal dipeptide from oxytocin and arginine vasopressin, were partially purified from lamb kidney by ammonium sulfate fractionation and column chromatography. The two enzymes are shown to be separate entities with different pH profiles. The prolyl peptidase activity released the C-terminal dipeptides from oxytocin and arginine vasopressin at similar rates and was inhibited by p-chloromercuriphenylsulfonic acid, 1,10-phenanthroline, L-1-tosylamido-2-phenylethylchloromethyl ketone, Co2+, Ca2+, and Zn2+, but significantly enhanced by dithiothreitol. The prolyl peptidase preparation cleaves proline-containing peptide substrates at the Pro-X bond. The rate of cleavage is dependent on the nature of residue X and with the conditions used there is no cleavage when X equals Pro; however, cleavage occurs when X is a D isomer: [Mpr1, D-Arg8] vasopressin is inactivated at a rate similar to [Mpr1, Arg8]- and [Mpr1, Lys8] vasopressin, suggesting that the known prolonged biological action of [Mpr1, D-Arg8] vasopressin is not due to resistance to the prolyl peptidase. In all characteristics tested the lamb kidney prolyl peptidase was identical to the post-proline cleaving enzyme isolated earlier from human uterus. In vivo experiments in the cat suggested that both the glycinamide-releasing enzyme and post-proline cleaving enzyme are present and effective in inactivating neurohypophyseal hormones in the intact animal.

Enzymes as reagents in peptide synthesis: enzymatic removal of amine protecting groups

A model system is described for the enzymatic deprotection of suitably masked amino groups during stepwise peptide synthesis. Nitrophenyl esters of amino acids, N-protected with trypsin-labile benzyloxycarbonylarginyl groups, were prepared as crystalline, analytically pure picrate salts in a standardized procedure. These intermediates were shown to react with amino compounds to form the expected peptide linkages. A pair of diasteriomeric peptides prepared in this way and featuring benzyloxycarbonylarginyl-L-, AND -D-glutaminyl sequences, respectively, were subjected to tryptic digestion. In both cases, a specific cleavage of the arginyl bond was achieved; however, the peptide containing the L-glutaminyl residue was deprotected much more rapidly than its diasteriomer containing the D-glutaminyl residue. The hydrolysis of the former isomer was not noticeably impeded by the presence of the latter. The results of these studies suggest that C-activated amino-acid derivatives, N-protected with trypsin-labile groups, are readily prepared in convenient form and that the peptide derivatives prepared from these intermediates are readily freed of their amino-protecting groups under mild, aqueous conditions with a potentially useful degree of stereospecificity. Theoretical implications of this first enzyme-catalyzed step in the repetitive cycle of peptide elaboration are discussed along with the procedural advantages implicit in the alternation of strongly and weakly basic groups in the protected and unprotected peptide intermediates, respectively.

Long-range, pH-dependent effects on the carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of oxytocin

The effects of hydrogen ion concentrations on the carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of oxytocin were investigated. The starting pD of 3.0 was increased stepwise to 8.4. A change of the state of protonation of the N-terminal amino group of oxytocin is accompanied by changes in chemical shifts of carbon-13 nuclei of amino-acid residues located in the 20-membered ring of the hormone. The resonance positions of the acyclic peptide portion, Pro-Leu-Gly-NH(2), remain constant. The pD-induced chemical-shift changes of carbons up to five bonds removed from the site of protonation are interpreted in terms of "through-bond" and "through-space" mechanisms. Chemical-shift changes of carbons more than five bonds removed are proposed to have a conformational origin. It is suggested that a change in the charge density of the amino group perturbs the dihedral angle of the -CH(2)-S-S-CH(2)- moiety of oxytocin, which in turn significantly affects the overall conformation of the 20-membered ring of the hormone.