title: Vasorelaxin: a novel arterial smooth muscle-relaxing eicosapeptide from the skin secretion of the Chinese piebald odorous frog (Odorrana schmackeri).
abstract: The defensive skin secretions of amphibians are a rich resource for the discovery of novel, bioactive peptides. Here we report the identification of a novel vascular smooth muscle-relaxing peptide, named vasorelaxin, from the skin secretion of the Chinese piebald odorous frog, Odorrana schmackeri. Vasorelaxin consists of 20 amino acid residues, SRVVKCSGFRPGSPDSREFC, with a disulfide-bridge between Cys-6 and Cys-20. The structure of its biosynthetic precursor was deduced from cloned skin cDNA and consists of 67 amino acid residues encoding a single copy of vasorelaxin (vasorelaxin, accession number: HE860494). Synthetic vasorelaxin caused a profound relaxation of rat arterial smooth muscle with an EC(50) of 6.76 nM.
authors: Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
authors: Yuxin
authors: Y
authors: Wu
authors: Lei
authors: L
authors: Wang
authors: Chen
authors: C
authors: Lin
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Lin
authors: Mei
authors: M
authors: Zhou
authors: Liang
authors: L
authors: Chen
authors: Brian
authors: B
authors: Connolly
authors: Yingqi
authors: Y
authors: Zhang
authors: Tianbao
authors: T
authors: Chen
authors: Chris
authors: C
authors: Shaw
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001158:Arteries / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D015723:Gene Library; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D009812:Odorants; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011898:Ranidae; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012867:Skin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D010446:Peptide Fragments; D010455:Peptides; C582897:vasorelaxin protein, Odorrana schmackeri