title: Highly sensitive and selective fluorescence assays for rapid screening of endothelin-converting enzyme inhibitors.
abstract: The highly potent vasoconstrictor peptide endothelin (ET) is generated from an inactive precursor, big endothelin (bET), by endothelin-converting enzyme (ECE). ECE is a phosphoramidon-sensitive zinc metallopeptidase, which is closely related to neprilysin (neutral endopeptidase). It is possible that compounds which inhibit the formation of ET may be used as new drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Such an approach requires a fast, simple and selective assay to measure ECE activity, allowing rapid screening of inhibitors. We describe here two new ECE substrates based on the concept of 'intramolecularly quenched fluorescence' which may fulfill this aim. One, S(1) [Pya(21)-Nop(22)-bET-1(19--35)], is the (19--35) fragment of the natural peptide big-ET-1(1--38), which is modified by introducing the fluorescent amino acid, pyrenylalanine (Pya), in position 21 and a quencher, p-nitrophenylalanine (Nop), in position 22. The second substrate (S(2)) is a small peptide, Ac-Ser-Gly-Pya-Lys-Ala-Phe-Ala-Nop-Gly-Lys-NH(2), from a biased substrate peptide library. The recombinant, hECE-1c, cleaved both Pya(21)-Nop(22)-bET-1(19--35) and the natural substrate selectively between residues 21 and 22, whereas cleavage occurred between alanine and phenylalanine in the small peptide. In both cases, this generated intense fluorescence emission. The synthesis and kinetic parameters of these substrates are described. These assays, which can be used directly on tissue homogenates, are the most sensitive and selective described to date for ECE, and are easily automated for a high-throughput screening of inhibitors.
authors.affiliation: Département de Pharmacochimie Moléculaire et Structurale, U266 INSERM, UMR 8600 CNRS, 4 Avenue de l'Observatoire, 75270 Paris Cedex 06, France.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Luciani
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: de Rocquigny
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Turcaud
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Romieu
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Roques
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D019332:Endothelin-1 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D000072396:Endothelin-Converting Enzymes; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000032:analysis*; D007700:Kinetics; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051381:Rats; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D019332:Endothelin-1; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases; D000072396:Endothelin-Converting Enzymes