title: Decapeptide agonists of human C5a: the relationship between conformation and spasmogenic and platelet aggregatory activities.
abstract: A series of decapeptide analogues corresponding to the C-terminal region of human C5a anaphylatoxin (C5a65-74) was synthesized with residue substitutions to restrict conformational flexibility in the C-terminus. These conformationally constrained peptides behaved as agonists of C5a in spasmogenic assays (smooth muscle contraction in human fetal artery, guinea pig ileum, and guinea pig lung parenchyma) as well as guinea pig platelet aggregation. There were significant correlations in the potencies of these peptides between the various assays. A structure-function analysis led to the identification of a preferred backbone conformation that correlated with the expression of these biological responses. These backbone structural motifs were consistent with a helix-like conformation for residues 65-69, an elongated structure for residues 70-71, and a beta-turn of either type II or type V for residues (71)72-74. The most potent of these agonists expressed almost 5% of the potency of natural C5a.
authors.affiliation: Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha 68198-6805.
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Sanderson
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kirnarsky
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Sherman
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ember
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Finch
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015936:Complement C5a / Q000819:agonists* / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000187:drug effects*; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010974:Platelet Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D009842:Oligopeptides; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D015936:Complement C5a