ABSTRACT
A preliminary characterization is provided of a naturally occurring cyclic peptide with interesting and potent biological activity. A 31-residue cyclic peptide, designated cyclopsychotride A [1], was obtained from the organic extract of the tropical plant, Psychotria longipes. Compound 1 inhibited [125I] neurotensin (NT) binding to HT-29 cell membranes (IC50 3 microM) and also stimulated increased levels of cytosolic Ca2+ in two unrelated cell lines that do not express NT receptors. The peptide was found to dose-dependently increase intracellular Ca2+ at concentrations ranging from 3 to 30 microM, and this response was not blocked by a known NT antagonist. Cyclopsychotride A [1] possesses three disulfide linkages and is thought to be the largest cyclic peptide isolated from a natural source. Both 1H-nmr and cd spectroscopy showed 1 to be highly structured.
Subject(s)
Cyclotides , Neurotensin/antagonists & inhibitors , Peptides, Cyclic/isolation & purification , Plants, Medicinal/chemistry , Amino Acid Sequence , Brazil , Calcium/metabolism , Circular Dichroism , Humans , Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy , Molecular Sequence Data , Peptides, Cyclic/pharmacology , Protein Conformation , Spectrometry, Mass, Fast Atom Bombardment , Tumor Cells, CulturedABSTRACT
We have discovered and characterized a novel coagulation factor Xa inhibitor from the salivary gland of the black fly, Simulium vittatum. Salivary glands were surgically dissected from the flies and a crude salivary gland extract was tested for inhibition of a number of coagulation assays. The gland extract inhibited both thrombin and factor Xa. To purify further the factor Xa inhibitor, a factor Xa affinity column was utilized. Final purification of the black fly factor Xa inhibitor was achieved by reverse-phase C8 microbore high pressure liquid chromatography. Inhibition of factor Xa was nearly stoichiometric by the purified inhibitor with no inhibitor of thrombin detected. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated the inhibitor had a molecular weight of 18,000 and sequence analysis of the inhibitor revealed a blocked amino terminus. These data indicate that the blood-sucking black fly has evolved a highly potent inhibitor of mammalian coagulation factor Xa to disrupt its host normal hemostatic clotting mechanisms.