ABSTRACT
Inhibiting enterocytogenin (IEG), a 4.5 kDa nucleopeptide isolated from pig intestinal mucosa induced dose-dependent alterations in the spontaneous contractile and bioelectric activities of rat gastric smooth muscle when applied at 10(-8) to 10(-4) M. Two separate phases were apparent in the effects observed, an initial contractile phase followed by a relaxation phase. The depolarization and the related contraction were reduced by amiloride and to a lesser extent by nifedipine. This reduction resulted in a corresponding decrease in the magnitude of the subsequent relaxation phase. Charybdotoxin and apamin caused a statistically significant decrease in the hyperpolarization and the magnitude of the relaxation phase and increased the duration of the contractile phase. On a caffeine or noradrenaline background the effects induced by IEG were diminished, suggesting that they are mediated through Ca2+ release from the intracellular Ca2+ stores. We hypothesize that the depolarization induced by IEG involves activation of the voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels with subsequent stimulation of the Ca(2+)-dependent K+ channels and late development of hyperpolarization.
Subject(s)
Muscle Contraction/drug effects , Muscle, Smooth/drug effects , Peptides/pharmacology , Amiloride/pharmacology , Animals , Apamin/pharmacology , Caffeine/pharmacology , Calcium/metabolism , Calcium Channel Blockers/pharmacology , Diuretics/pharmacology , Electrophysiology , Gastric Mucosa/metabolism , Intestines/chemistry , Membranes/drug effects , Nifedipine/pharmacology , Norepinephrine/pharmacology , Rats , Stomach/drug effectsABSTRACT
The effects of a new intestinal peptide, inhibiting enterocytogenin (IEG) derived from pig intestinal mucosa were studied in vitro on 3T3 mouse fibroblasts and L5178Y mouse lymphoma cell line. IEG caused considerable growth inhibition together with specific morphological changes, necrotic effects as well as formation of monolayers at the highest concentration applied (1000 micrograms/ml). A biologically active fraction (IEG-BAF) derived by further purification of IEG by gel-filtration, proved to possess most of the described activity. The concentrations of IEG and IEG-BAF inhibiting the growth of L5178Y lymphoma cells by 50% (IC50 values) were calculated to be 759 micrograms/ml and 192 micrograms/ml, respectively. IEG-BAF has a molecular mass of 4450 +/- 180 Da and is most probably a peptidylnucleotidate as revealed by spectral analysis.