Several chemically-modified analogues of α-melanotropin (α-MSH, Ac-Ser-Tyr-Ser-Met-Glu-His-Phe-Arg-Trp-Gly-Lys-Pro-Val-NH₂) were prepared by solid-phase peptide synthesis, including [Nle⁴]-α-MSH, Ac-[Nle⁴]-α-MSH₄₋₁₃-NH₂, Ac-[Nle⁴]-α-MSH₁₋₆-NH₂, Ac-α-MSH₇₋₁₀-NH₂, Ac-α-MSH₁₁₋₁₃-NH₂, Ac-[Nle⁴]-α-MSH(,4-10)-NH₂, Ac-[Nle⁴, D-Phe⁷]-α-MSH₄₋₁₀-NH₂, [Nle⁴, D-Phe⁷]-α-MSH, Ac-α-MSH₄₋₁₀-NH₂, Ac-[Tyr⁴]-α-MSH₄₋₁₀-NH₂ and [half-Cys⁴, half-Cys¹⁰]-α-MSH. The synthetic strategy involved: (1) p-methylbenzhydrylamine resin as a solid support, (2) N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide as a coupling reagent, (3) acetylation of the N-terminus and HF cleavage and deprotection (except for Nⁱ-For-Trp) of the fully assembled peptide-resin and (4) alkaline hydrolysis to deformylate Nⁱ-For-Trp. In the preparation of [half-Cys⁴, half-Cys¹⁰]-α-MSH, oxidative-cyclization provided formation of an intramolecular disulfide bridge. A comparative biological analysis in vitro of these above structural, stereoisomeric and conformationally-restricted analogues of α-MSH on several different vertebrate pigment cell systems provided the following results: (1) The [Nle⁴, D-Phe⁷]-α-MSH effected high melanotropic potency (> 60 times relative to α-MSH), ultralong biological activity and unprecedented metabolic stability. (2) Utilizing [Nle⁴, D-Phe⁷]-α-MSH as a molecular probe, two melanotropic receptor types were demonstrated which were mechanistically different in terms of calcium dependency and apparent hormone-receptor complex reversibility. (3) The Ac-[Nle⁴, D-Phe⁷]-α-MSH₄₋₁₀-NH₂ was a highly potent active site (Met-Glu-His-Phe-Arg-Trp-Gly) analogue of α-MSH (ranging from 0.2- to 10-times relative to α-MSH) without the ultralong melanotropic activity possessed by the parent stereostructural tridecapeptide. (4) The [half-Cys4, half-Cys10]-α-MSH exhibited superpotency on frog (Rana pipiens) melanophores (≥ 10,000 times relative to α-MSH), and provided experimental evidence that a pseudocyclic conformation of the native hormone containing a β-turn structural requirement at His-Phe-Arg-Trp might be related to its biological activity at the pigment cell receptor. The [Nle⁴, D-Phe⁷]-α-MSH may be suitable for use as a radio-labeled tracer or drug-delivery agent for the localization or treatment of human melanoma in vivo.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/282076 |
| Date | January 1981 |
| Creators | Sawyer, Tomi Kim |
| Contributors | Hruby, Victor J. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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