b ackground: brevinin-2r, as 25 amino acids peptide of the skin of r ana ridibunda frog, possesses potent antimicrobial and low hemolytic activity. it has an n-terminal hydrophilic region and a c-terminal loop that is delineated by an intra-disulfide bridge. in our study, brevinin-2r and its diastereomer as well  as its  cyclic  analogue  were  synthesized  and  characterized  in  order  to inv...

BACKGROUND Oxytocin (OT) is synthesized as a prohormone that is sequentially processed to peptides. These peptides are the bioactive amidated form (OT) and the C-terminal extended peptides, OT-Gly, OT-Gly-Lys and OT-Gly-Lys-Arg, which are designated together as OT-X. As an extension of our previous study finding decreased plasma OT in autism, studies were conducted to determine whether there we...

The allatostatins are pleiotropic arthropod neuropeptides that are known to inhibit juvenile hormones in insects. Currently, there are three known families of allatostatins: A-type, B-type and C-type allatostatins (ASTs). CAST , which is characterized by the non-amidated C-terminal motif –PISCF, a pyroglutamine blocked N-terminus and a disulfide bridge between the Cys residues at position 7 and...

Bifunctional peptidylglycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase (PAM) catalyzes the copper-, ascorbate-, and O(2)-dependent cleavage of C-terminal glycine-extended peptides and N-acylglycines to the corresponding amides and glyoxylate. The alpha-amidated peptides and the long-chain acylamides are hormones in humans and other mammals. Bile acid glycine conjugates are also substrates for PAM leading t...

Sex pheromone biosynthesis in many moth species is controlled by a cerebral neuropeptide, termed pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN). PBAN is a 33 amino acid C-terminally amidated neuropeptide that is produced by neuroendocrine cells of the subesophageal ganglion (SEG). Studies of the regulation of sex pheromone biosynthesis in moths have revealed that this function can be eli...

A novel human G protein-coupled receptor named AXOR12, exhibiting 81% homology to the rat orphan receptor GPR54, was cloned from a human brain cDNA library. Heterologous expression of AXOR12 in mammalian cells permitted the identification of three surrogate agonist peptides, all with a common C-terminal amidated motif. High potency agonism, indicative of a cognate ligand, was evident from pepti...

We investigated the role of amidated neuropeptides, and specifically pituitary adenylyl cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), in olfactory neurogenesis and olfactory receptor neuronal survival. Using both immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization, we find that both peptidylglycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase (PAM), the enzyme responsible for amidation and therefore activation of all am...

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are ancient molecules that can sense environmental and physiological signals. Currently, the majority of the predicted Caenorhabditis elegans GPCRs are orphan. Here, we describe the characterization of such an orphan C. elegans GPCR, which is categorized in the tachykinin-like group of receptors. Since the C. elegans genome predicts only one tachykinin-like p...

An automated continuous-flow liquid-phase peptide synthesizer for preparing C-terminal free peptides was developed. This system includes aqueous workup, concentration, and in-line NIR monitoring.