title: Leucosulfakinin-II, a blocked sulfated insect neuropeptide with homology to cholecystokinin and gastrin.
abstract: A sulfated neuropeptide [pGlu-Ser-Asp-Asp-Tyr(SO3H)-Gly-His-Met-Arg-Phe-NH2], with a blocked N-terminus and related to the undecapeptide leucosulfakinin, has been isolated from head extracts of the cockroach, Leucophaea maderae. It exhibits sequence homology with the hormonally-active portion of vertebrate hormones cholecystokinin, human gastrin II and caerulin. This peptide, termed leucosulfakinin-II, shares a common C-terminal heptapeptide fragment with leucosulfakinin and a comparison of the two sequences provides an assessment of the importance of the constituent amino acids to biological activity. Leucosulfakinin-II shows a greater resemblance to cholecystokinin than does leucosulfakinin. Leucosulfakinin-II and leucosulfakinin are the only two reported invertebrate sulfated neuropeptides. As with leucosulfakinin, the intestinal myotropic activity of leucosulfakinin-II is analogous to that of gastrin and cholecystokinin. The sequence homology between the leucosulfakinins and the vertebrate hormones, as well as their analogous myotropic activity, suggest that gastrin/cholecystokinin-like neuropeptides are not confined to vertebrates, but also occur in invertebrates.
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D002766:Cholecystokinin / Q000032:analysis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D003058:Cockroaches / Q000032:analysis*; D005755:Gastrins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000032:analysis* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D011761:Pyrrolidonecarboxylic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D005755:Gastrins; D009479:Neuropeptides; C050385:leucosulfakinin II; D002766:Cholecystokinin; D011761:Pyrrolidonecarboxylic Acid