C-terminal peptide alcohol, acid and amide analogs of desulfato hirudin54-65 as antithrombin agents
Research article published in Thrombosis research (1989)
Abstract
Analogs of the antithrombin peptide hirudin54-65 with C-terminal modifications have been synthesized in order to examine the requirements for alpha-thrombin inhibition. The C-terminal residue, Gln65, could be replaced with L-amino acids or amino alcohols with neutral or charged hydrophilic side chains without greatly affecting the peptide's antithrombin potency as determined by inhibition of thrombin-induced clot formation in human plasma in vitro. Derivatives with D- or L-amino carboxamides at position 65 had significantly reduced potency, but still retained activity. Deletion of residue 65 with conversion of residue 64 to the amide or alcohol derivative resulted in a three-fold loss of potency. In addition to these results the solid-phase synthesis of peptide alcohols via direct displacement of p-nitrobenzhydrylideneisonitroso resin attached peptides with the desired C-terminal amino alcohol is reported.
Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.
Summary
Synthetic C-terminal variants of hirudin54-65 were tested for antithrombin activity in human plasma; replacing Gln65 with hydrophilic L-amino acids or amino alcohols largely preserved potency, while carboxamide derivatives and deletion of residue 65 reduced it.
Why This Matters for Hirudotherapy
This study synthesized C-terminal analogs of the antithrombin peptide hirudin54-65 with modifications at position 65 to examine the structural requirements for alpha-thrombin inhibition, measuring potency by inhibition of thrombin-induced clot formation in human plasma in vitro. Replacement of the C-terminal residue with L-amino acids or amino alcohols having neutral or charged hydrophilic side chains did not greatly affect antithrombin potency, whereas derivatives with D- or L-amino carboxamides at position 65 showed significantly reduced but retained activity; deletion of residue 65 produced a three-fold loss of potency. The abstract explicitly names hirudin54-65 as the parent peptide, and the work is a structure-activity study of a hirudin fragment. However, the abstract makes no mention of leeches, leech saliva, leech secretome, or hirudotherapy, and the study is purely in vitro.
Citation
Reference (Vancouver style)
Krstenansky JL, Payne MH, Owen TJ, Yates MT, Mao SJ. C-terminal peptide alcohol, acid and amide analogs of desulfato hirudin54-65 as antithrombin agents. Thromb Res. 1989;54(4):319-325. doi:10.1016/0049-3848(89)90090-x. PMID: 2763270
Bibliographic details (authors, volume, pages, DOI) are taken from the PubMed record.
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