title: Solution structure of nocistatin, a new peptide analgesic.
abstract: Nocistatin, a new heptadecapeptide encoded in the bPNP-3 gene, has a powerful biological activity connected with the mechanisms of pain transmission. It does not bind to the opioid receptors but to another brain receptor with high affinity. In order to substantiate these novel biological data with a structural basis, we have undertaken a conformational study in solution. Proton nmr data in helicogenic solvents are consistent with a well-defined helical structure that is consistent with the nmr parameters of the C-terminal octapeptide, a shorter fragment that retains allodynia-blocking activity.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Napoli Federico II, via Mezzocannone 4, I-80134 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Crescenzi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guerrini
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Picone
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salvadori
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tancredi
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Temussi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018847:Opioid Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D051381:Rats; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012996:Solutions
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D018847:Opioid Peptides; D012996:Solutions; C111148:nocistatin