title: Characterization of chemotactic ability of peptides containing N-formyl-methionyl residues in Tetrahymena fMLP as a targeting ligand.
abstract: The chemotactic effects of six formylated, putatively bacterial peptides (fMLP, fMLPP, fMMM, fMP, fMV, and fMS) were studied. From the set of six peptides, only fMLP (one of the most effective chemoattractant peptides in mammals) elicited a significant positive chemotactic response in the eukaryotic ciliate Tetrahymena pyriformis, while the other formylated ligands, e.g. fMMM (which is also effective in mammals), had neutral or antagonistic effects in Tetrahymena. A study of their amino acid sequences points to an, as yet obscure, interaction between C-terminal f-Met and N-terminal aromatic Phe. Some optimal physicochemical characteristics (e.g. solvent exposed area, solubility) of the molecule may be responsible for this special feature of f-MLP at such a low level of phylogeny. This means that the unicellular Tetrahymena is able to select between related molecules, giving high priority to the molecule that is the most chemoattractive in mammals. The results call attention to the possible presence of f-Met receptors at a unicellular level and to the evolutionary conservation of chemotaxis-activating processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Cell and Immunobiology, Semmelweis University of Medicine, Nagyvarad ter 4 POB 370, 1445, Budapest, Hungary
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kohidai
authors.forename: Krisztina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Török
authors.forename: Eszter
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Illyés
authors.forename: Judit
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tamási
authors.forename: Ferenc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sebestyén
authors.forename: Orsolya
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Láng
authors.forename: György
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Csaba
authors.forename: Ferenc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hudecz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D008024:Ligands; D009239:N-Formylmethionine / Q000737:chemistry*; D009240:N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013769:Tetrahymena pyriformis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D008024:Ligands; D009842:Oligopeptides; D010455:Peptides; D009239:N-Formylmethionine; D009240:N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine