A novel gut tetradecapeptide isolated from the earthworm, Eisenia foetida.
A novel bioactive tetradecapeptide, GFKDGAADRISHGFamide, was isolated from the gut of the oligochaete annelid, Eisenia foetida, using the isolated anterior gut (crop-gizzard) as a bioassay system. A highly homologous peptide, GFRDGSADRISHGFamide, was also purified from the whole body of another species of earthworm, Pheretima vittata. These peptides were termed Eisenia tetradecapeptide (ETP) and Pheretima tetradecapeptide (PTP), respectively. Both the peptides showed a potent excitatory action on spontaneous contractions of the anterior gut with a threshold as low as 10(-10)-10(-9) M. These peptides were significantly homologous to molluscan tetradecapeptides and, to a lesser extent, to arthropodan tridecapeptides that have been reported to date. All these peptides seem to be evolutionally related to each other.
Faculty of Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan.
K
K
Ukena
T
T
Oumi
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O
Matsushima
T
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Ikeda
T
T
Fujita
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H
Minakata
K
K
Nomoto
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004064:Digestive System / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D004068:Digestive System Physiological Phenomena; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009835:Oligochaeta / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D010455:Peptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D010455:Peptides; C107175:tetradecapeptide, Eisenia