title: Roles of tyrosine residue of enkephalin in opiate receptor recognition.
abstract: A series of analogs of a dimeric peptide of the inactive fragment of enkephalin (H-Tyr-D-Ala-Gly-NH-CH2-)2 (DTRE2) was synthesized by modifying one or both of tyrosine residues. The change of configuration of both tyrosines, from L to D, or the removal of both p-hydroxy groups brought about a decrease in activity, but some of the activity (about 20% of the parent enkephalin dimer's activity) was found to be retained when assayed by using guinea pig ileum and mouse vas deferens. In contrast, the analog lacking amino groups in both tyrosines was completely devoid of activity, indicating the essential importance of the tyrosine amino group in opiate receptor recognition. The activity of analogs with only one amino group was found to be higher than that of the parent enkephalin dimer having both amino groups. A possible interaction to explain this finding was discussed.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Biochemistry, Yagi Memorial Park, Gifu, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimohigashi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogasawara
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kodama
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koshizaka
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurono
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yagi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D004745:Enkephalins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D051379:Mice; D015394:Molecular Structure; D011957:Receptors, Opioid / Q000502:physiology*; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004745:Enkephalins; D011957:Receptors, Opioid; D014443:Tyrosine