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PubMedDate not supplied

Synthesis and characterization of chimeric silkworm silk.

A synthetic gene encoding a chimeric silklike protein was constructed that combined a polyalanine encoding region (Ala)(18), a sequence slightly longer than the (Ala)(12-13) found in the silk fibroin from the wild silkworm Samia cynthia ricini, and a sequence encoding GVGAGYGAGAGYGVGAGYGAGVGYGAGAGY, found in the silk fibroin from the silkworm Bombyx mori. A tetramer of the chimeric repeat sequence encoding a approximately 29 kDa protein was expressed as a fusion protein in Escherichia coli. In comparison to S. c. ricini silk, the chimeric protein demonstrated improved solubility because it could be dissolved in 8 M urea. The purified protein assumed an alpha-helical structure based on solid-state (13)C CP/MAS NMR and was less prone to conformational transition to a beta-sheet, unlike native silk proteins from S. c. ricini. Model peptides representing the crystalline region of S. c. ricini silk fibroin, (Ala)(12) and (Ala)(18), formed beta-sheet structures. Therefore, the solubility and structural transitions of the chimeric protein were significantly altered through the formation of this chimeric silk. This experimental strategy to the study of silk structure and function can be used to develop an improved understanding of the contributions of protein domains in repetitive silkworm and spider silk sequences to structure development and structural transitions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2004

Folding and stability of chimeric immunofusion VL-barstar.

A chimeric protein VL-barstar that comprises the VL domain of anti-human ferritin monoclonal antibody F11 and barstar, the naturally occurring inhibitor of bacterial RNase barnase, has been constructed for study of structure-function characteristics of chimeric immunoglobulin fused proteins. Such chimeric constructs may be potentially employed for development of bivalent/bispecific antibodies on the basis of the high affinity interaction between barstar and barnase (the association constant is about 10(14) M(-1)). We have developed a protocol for VL-barstar expression in E. coli and purification and refolding from inclusion bodies that yields a homogeneous and soluble form of this protein. Differential scanning calorimetry in combination with fluorescence and CD spectroscopy revealed that the VL-barstar formed well-resolved ordered secondary and compact tertiary structures. However, partial loss of tertiary interactions resulted in low stability of the recombinant protein and the lack of functional activity of the two constituent modules. These conformational features suggest that the protein might be referred to the class of native molten globules, which comprises partially unfolded conformations stabilized under physiological conditions. Since individually expressed VL domain and barstar retain completely folded conformation and stable spatial structure, the incomplete folding of the chimeric protein may be attributed to interaction between heterologous domains, which appears at the folding stage preceding formation of a system of tertiary interactions in both structural modules. The results provide evidence for non-native interactions between heterologous modules that may occur in chimeric proteins composed of taxonomically distinct fusion partners.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1999

Characterization of epitope regions of thyrotropin beta-subunit recognized by the monoclonal antibodies mAb279 and mAb299: a chimeric peptide approach.

This investigation describes the design, synthesis and evaluation of chimeric peptides related to the bovine thyrotropin beta-subunit, bTSHbeta. The structures of these chimeric peptides were derived from investigations with linear peptides and sequence alignment studies, in association with a homology model of TSHbeta developed from the hCG X-ray crystallographic structure. The structures of these chimeric peptides comprised beta-turn regions of loop L1 [bTSHbeta(14-20)] and loop L3 [bTSHbeta(65-72)] held in close proximity by a bis-beta-alanine linker and the disulfide bond bTSHbeta[Cys16-Cys67]. Linear and cyclic chimeric peptides were evaluated in immunochemical assays for their ability to inhibit the binding of radio-iodinated bTSHbeta [125I-bTSHbeta] to the monoclonal antibodies, mAb279 and mAb299. Previously, mAb279 and mAb299 have been shown to recognize epitopes accessible on the surface of TSHbeta that lie in close proximity to the TSH receptor-binding site. The results indicate that these chimeric peptides can specifically inhibit in a dose-dependent manner the binding of 125I-bTSHbeta to mAb299, while having a lesser effect on the binding with mAb279. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the bTSHbeta-epitope recognized by mAb299 involves contributions from amino residues from the beta-turn regions of the L1 and L3 loops of TSHbeta, and that these loop regions flank part of the receptor binding site of the bTSH beta-subunit.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1999

Correlation between allograft survival and chimeric state after bone marrow infusion in rat small bowel transplantation.

Methods to enhance natural microchimerism, which occurs after any successful organ transplant, are currently explored using unmodified donor bone marrow both in experimental and in clinical trials. Because of the potential immunomodulatory effects of donor bone marrow cells, we performed this study to evaluate the effect of single and multiple donor-specific bone marrow infusions (DSBMI) on chimerism and small bowel allograft survival in a fully histoincompatible rat model. Forty-five male DA rats and 45 female Lewis rats were used as donors and recipients, respectively, for a heterotopic small bowel transplant. Animals were separated into 10 groups according to the number of bone marrow infusions and immunosuppressive protocol used. Control groups (groups 1 and 2) did not receive any bone marrow infusion, groups 3 and 4 received one infusion at day 0 (150 x 10(6) cells), groups 5 and 6 received two infusions at days 0 and 4 (75 x 10(6) cells each), groups 7 and 8 received two infusions at days 4 and 10 (75 x 10(6) cells each), and groups 9 and 10 received five infusions at days 4, 10, 15, 20 and 25 (30 x 10(6) cells each). Animals in groups 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 were immunosuppressed with 0.5 mg/kg FK506 while the remaining groups were immunosuppressed with 1 mg/kg FK506, from day 0 to 4 after transplant. Every 15 days, the chimeric state was determined by flow cytometry in order to detect cells expressing DA rat class I antigen, and small bowel biopsies were obtained from ileostomies. Animals in all groups showed minimal to moderate acute rejection at day 15 after transplant, however, vascular rejection (vasculitis, arteritis) was observed in only bone marrow groups (100% in 0.5 mg/kg and 42.1% in 1 mg/kg FK506 groups). On day 30, 58.3% of bone-marrow-infused animals and 66.6% of controls showed severe acute and early chronic rejection. The chimeric levels varied from 0 to 12% after transplant and were significantly higher in bone-marrow-infused groups compared with controls (p < 0.05). We conclude that modulation of immune response with short-course immunosuppression and a single or multiple DSBMI did not improve allograft or recipient survival. The inability to achieve a stable chimeric state did not allow us to determine the effect of chimerism on graft and recipient survival after small bowel transplantation.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Macrophage and lymphocyte chimerism in bronchoalveolar lavage cells from human lung allograft recipients.

BACKGROUND: Chimerism is suggested to predict a more favourable prognosis in solid organ transplantation. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Forty-eight bronchoalveolar lavages from 10 patients (5 females and 5 males) who had received sex-mismatched donor lungs were monitored for varying periods of time, of up to 2 years, at regular intervals (median 3.0 (0.5-24) months). To investigate the chimerism in macrophages and lymphocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage cells a cloned 2.12 kilobase large biotinylated Y-chromosome-specific DNA-probe was used for in situ hybridization. RESULTS: Donor macrophages disappeared in seven patients within the first 6 months after surgery (median 3.0 (1-6) months). But 15% donor macrophages could be detected in one patient 1 year and 10% in 2 patients two years after surgery. Donor lymphocytes disappeared in all patients within 3 months (median 1 (0.5-3) months). There was no correlation between periods or severity of acute rejection and percentage of donor macrophages and donor lymphocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage. None of the patients developed obliterative bronchiolitis. CONCLUSION: Macrophage chimerism in lung may exist for several years. Whilst our results do not elucidate the role of local macrophage chimerism, they do not currently support the view that chimerism prevents rejection.

Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid↗
PubMed1996

Generation of chimeric bispecific G250/anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody, a tool to combat renal cell carcinoma.

The monoclonal antibody (MAb) G250 binds to a tumour-associated antigen, expressed in renal cell carcinoma (RCC), which has been demonstrated to be a suitable target for antibody-mediated immunotherapy. A bispecific antibody having both G250 and anti-CD3 specificity can cross-link G250 antigen-expressing RCC target cells with T cells and can mediate lysis of such targets. Therapy studies with murine antibodies are limited by immune responses to the antibodies injected (HAMA response), which can be decreased by using chimeric antibodies. We generated a chimeric bispecific G250/anti CD3 MAb by transfecting chimeric genes of heavy and light chains for both the G250 MAb and the anti-CD3 MAb into a myeloma cell line. Cytotoxicity assays revealed that the chimeric bispecific MAb was capable of mediating lysis of RCC cell lines by cloned human CD8+T cells or by IL-2-stimulated peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs). Lysis mediated by the MAb was specific for target cells that expressed the G250 antigen and was effective at concentrations as low as 0.01 microgram ml-1. The chimeric bispecific G250/anti-CD3 MAb produced may be an effective adjuvant to the currently used IL-2-based therapy of advanced renal cell arcinoma.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

Functional chimeric mRNAs encode proteins in mammalian immunity.

Individual mammalian mRNAs and proteins are typically believed to originate from single genomic loci, with isoform diversity arising through cis-splicing of pre-mRNA. Whether mRNA from distant genes can undergo trans-splicing to generate functionally relevant chimeric transcripts has remained unclear. Here we develop a pipeline combining long-read direct RNA sequencing with non-targeted and targeted validation to identify chimeric transcripts in macrophages. Chromatin conformation capture studies reveal that inflammation induces interchromosomal DNA interactions, positioning parent genes proximally to facilitate the formation of chimeric mRNA. Notably, we identify a protein-coding chimeric mRNA representing a fusion between the pore-forming protein gasdermin D (GSDMD)1,2 and a C-terminal domain translated out of frame from Tmem106a (Gsdmd-Tmem106a) in mice. We show that inflammasome priming upregulates Gsdmd-Tmem106a, with the protein localizing to the plasma membrane. After activation of the inflammasome, GSDMD-TMEM106A directly interacts with canonical GSDMD N termini to accelerate and enhance pore formation and IL-1&#x3b2; release. Finally, we show that GSDMD-TMEM106A balances host defence and immunopathology in vivo: its loss protects against lethal sepsis but compromises antibacterial defence, whereas overexpression enhances host protection while increasing sepsis lethality. We establish that protein-coding chimeric mRNAs formed by regulated transcript fusion events are operative during inflammation and immunity.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Chimeric PSA enhancers exhibit augmented activity in prostate cancer gene therapy vectors.

The native PSA enhancer and promoter confer prostate-specific expression when inserted into adenovirus vectors capable of efficient in vivo gene delivery, although the transcriptional activity is low. By exploiting properties of the natural PSA control regions, we have improved the activity and specificity of the prostate-specific PSA enhancer for gene therapy and imaging applications. Previous studies have established that androgen receptor (AR) molecules bind cooperatively to AREs in the PSA enhancer core (-4326 to -3935) and act synergistically with AR bound to the proximal promoter to regulate transcriptional output. To exploit the synergistic nature of AR action we generated chimeric enhancer constructs by (1) insertion of four tandem copies of the proximal AREI element; (2) duplication of enhancer core; or (3) removal of intervening sequences (-3744 to -2855) between the enhancer and promoter. By comparing to the baseline construct, PSE, containing the PSA enhancer (-5322 to -2855) fused to the proximal promoter (-541 to +12), the three most efficacious chimeric constructs, PSE-BA (insertion of ARE4), PSE-BC (duplication of core) and PSE-BAC (insertion of core and ARE4), are 7.3-, 18.9-, and 9.4-fold higher, respectively. These chimeric PSA enhancer constructs are highly androgen inducible and retain a high degree of tissue discriminatory capability. Initial biochemical studies reveal that the augmented activity of the chimeric constructs in vivo correlates with their ability to recruit AR and critical co-activators in vitro. The enhanced activity, inducibility and specificity of the chimeric constructs are retained in an adenoviral vector (Ad-PSE-BC-luc). Systemic administration of Ad-PSE-BC-luc into SCID mice harboring the LAPC-9 human prostate cancer xenografts shows that this prostate specific vector retained tissue discriminatory capability compared with a comparable cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter driven vector.

Adenoviridae↗
PubMed2002

Analysis of IL-6-mediated growth control of myeloma cells using a gp130 chimeric receptor approach.

Interleukin 6 (IL-6) has been shown to be a key growth factor for myeloma cells. To study IL-6 signal transduction in multiple myeloma (MM), we employed chimeric receptors composed of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) extracellular domain, gp130 transmembrane domain, and full-length or truncated gp130 cytoplasmic domains lacking regions previously shown to be necessary for MAPK, STAT1, and STAT3 activation. The IL-6-dependent KAS-6/1 MM cell line was transfected with various chimeric receptor constructs and assayed for EGF responsiveness. EGF stimulation surprisingly stimulated DNA synthesis in all transfectants, regardless of receptor length. When cell proliferation was assayed instead, only transfectants capable of inducing high levels of STAT3 activation proliferated in response to EGF. Additional studies revealed that EGF stimulation resulted in tyrosine phosphorylation of endogenous gp130 in cells expressing the chimeric receptor. Replacing the gp130 transmembrane region with the EGFR transmembrane domain diminished but did not disrupt this interaction. This receptor interaction was also observed in the IL-6-dependent MM cell line ANBL-6. In summary, although our results suggest that STAT activation is crucial in gp130-mediated proliferation of myeloma cells, these results must be interpreted with caution given our demonstration of the interaction between chimeric and endogenous receptors in myeloma cells. Importantly, this interaction has not been noted in studies utilizing the same gp130 chimeric receptor system in non-MM cells.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2004

Mixed hematopoietic chimerism at day 90 following allogenic myeloablative stem cell transplantation is a predictor of relapse and survival.

We retrospectively analyzed the prognostic significance of mixed chimerism and associated clinical parameters in 80 patients following unmanipulated allogenic stem cell transplantation. Chimerism studies were performed on marrow aspirates using fluorescent in situ hybridization and variable number tandem repeats techniques at day +30, day +90 and +12 months. The median overall survival (OS) was 24 months (range, 1-56 months). Mixed chimerism was found in 23, 28 and 14% of patients at day +30 (1 month), +90 (3 months), and +12 months, respectively. Day +30 chimerism studies failed to provide any prognostic information. Day +90 mixed chimeras (MC) had significantly higher relapse rates compared to day +90 complete chimeras (CC) at 6 months (P=0.03) and 18 months when compared to MC (P=0.03) following transplant. The median OS in day +90 MC and day+90 CC were, respectively (95% CI, 2-35 months), compared to 47 months (95% CI, 20-74 months) (P=0.02). In conclusion, chimerism studies on day +30 could be reserved for patients who fail to demonstrate engraftment. Day +90 MC had higher relapse rates and lower OS, and therefore may be considered for novel therapies and future studies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Evaluation of immunomodulatory treatment based on conventional and lineage-specific chimerism analysis in patients with myeloid malignancies after myeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Both conventional chimerism analysis (CCA) and lineage-specific chimerism analysis (LCA) have potential pitfalls as diagnostic means for the detection of minimal residual disease after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (aHCT). Therefore, the present study examines the results of both methods in order to determine how predictive consecutive evaluations were, with respect to the risk that the patient would relapse during post-transplant follow-up and with respect to responsiveness to immunomodulatory treatment. A total of 168 individuals with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (n = 137) and myelo dysplastic syndrome (n = 31) were investigated with CCA and LCA at mean intervals of 24 days (range: 11-116). The median follow-up after myeloablative aHCT was 22 months (range: 4-49). Of 168 patients, 65 experienced a clinical relapse after aHCT. CCA and LCA were comparatively sensitive and specific for relapse at the intervals of chimerism testing employed in this study. Of 32 patients, 10 who were offered donor lymphocyte infusions (DLI) treatment for increasing (n = 29) or stable (n = 3) mixed chimerism (MC) achieved at least transitory CC. The observation that all patients with increasing MC relapsed despite DLI treatment (54%) or withdrawal of immune suppression (24%) indicates that novel strategies to deal with rapidly evolving relapse in AML patients, such as shortening of chimerism monitoring intervals, need to be evaluated.

Cell Lineage↗
PubMed2001

Structural and functional analysis of a chimeric protein COL1A1-PDGFB generated by the translocation t(17;22)(q22;q13.1) in Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DP).

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DP), an infiltrative skin tumour of intermediate malignancy, presents specific cytogenetic features such as reciprocal translocations t(17;22)(q22;q13.1) or supernumerary ring chromosomes derived from t(17;22). We have previously shown that both rings and translocated chromosomes derived from t(17;22) presented the same molecular rearrangement with fusion of the COL1A1 gene on chromosome 17 to the PDGFB gene on chromosome 22. To study the structure and function of the COL1A1-PDGFB chimeric protein, we used a tumour-derived chimeric COL1A1-PDGFB cDNA to perform stable and transient transfections in the Chinese hamster lung fibroblastic cell line PS200 and the human epithelial cell line HEK293. We demonstrated that the stably transfected clones that expressed the COL1A1-PDGFB chimeric protein became growth factors independent and tumorigenic in nude mice. In addition, COL1A1-PDGFB transfected cell supernatants significantly stimulated fibroblastic cell growth, through the activation of the PDGFB receptor pathway. By using anti-PDGFB and specific anti-COL1A1-PDGFB antibodies, we showed that, similar to PDGFB, the COL1A1-PDGFB chimeric proteins are processed in transfected cells into mature PDGFB dimers. These results strongly suggest that the COL1A1-PDGFB chimeric gene expression associated with DP, induces tumours formation through production of mature PDGFB, in an autocrine or paracrine way. Strikingly, mutagenesis experiments indicated that uncleaved COL1A1-PDGFB forms are mitogenic and therefore could contribute, as well as mature PDGFB, to the establishment of a transformed phenotype.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Specification of chimeric flowering shoots in wild-type Arabidopsis.

Within wild-type Arabidopsis populations, a subset of the plants were found to have a single chimeric shoot on their primary shoot axes. The chimeric shoots were located below the lowest primary-axis flower; and they exhibited features of both flowers and paraclades (lateral flowering shoots). Morphological analyses of chimeric shoots indicated that they developed from single primordia. In each chimeric shoot, the side furthest from the apical meristem was specified as 'flower'--while the side closest to the meristem was specified as 'paraclade'--suggesting that a stimulus from outside the apical meristem can directly induce primordia to develop as flowers. It is concluded that the development of the teratological chimeric shoots resulted from the overlap of the vegetative and floral specification processes within single primordia.

Arabidopsis↗
PubMed2000

Characterization of the internal motions of a chimeric protein by 13C NMR highlights the important dynamic consequences of the engineering on a millisecond time scale.

By transferring the central curaremimetic beta hairpin of the snake toxin alpha into the scaffold of the scorpion charybdotoxin, a chimeric protein was constructed that reproduced the three-dimensional structure and partially reproduced the function of the parent beta hairpin, without perturbing the three-dimensional structure of the scaffold [1]. Picosecond to hour time scale motions of charybdotoxin and the engineered protein were observed, in order to evaluate the dynamic consequences of the six deletions and eight mutations differentiating the two molecules. The chimeric protein dynamics were also compared to that of toxin alpha, in order to examine the beta hairpin motions in both structural contexts. Thus, 13C R1, R1rho and 1H-->13C nOe were measured for all the CalphaHalpha and threonine CbetaHbeta vectors. As the proteins were not labeled, accordion techniques combined to coherence selection by pulsed field gradients and preservation of magnetization following equivalent pathways were used to considerably reduce the spectrometer time needed. On one hand, we observed that the chimeric protein and charybdotoxin are subjected to similar picosecond to nanosecond time scale motions except around the modified beta sheet region. The chimeric protein also exhibits an additional millisecond time scale motion on its whole sequence, and its beta structure is less stable on a minute to hour time scale. On the other hand, when the beta hairpin dynamics is compared in two different structural contexts, i.e. in the chimeric protein and the curaremimetic toxin alpha, the picosecond to nanosecond time scale motions are fairly conserved. However, the microsecond to millisecond time scale motions are different on most of the beta hairpin sequence, and the beta sheet seems more stable in toxin alpha than in the chimera. The slower microsecond to hour time scale motions seem to be extremely sensitive to the structural context, and thus poorly transferred from one protein to another.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2002

Chimeric RNA/DNA oligonucleotide-based gene therapy.

BACKGROUND: Chimeric RNA/DNA oligonucleotides, emerging as a potential strategy for gene therapy, have been shown to induce site-specific correction of point mutations in several genetic disease models. METHODS: Six recent studies of chimeric RNA/DNA oligonucleotide-based gene therapy in genetic disease models are reviewed. Chimeric RNA/DNA oligonucleotides, complementary to 25 to 30 residues of genomic DNA flanking the mutation site with the exception of a mismatch in the center, were delivered via different routes and delivery vehicles to target different tissues and organs. Corrections of the mutation at genotypic and phenotypic levels were assessed using various methods, including allele-specific polymerase chain reaction assay, restriction enzyme digestion, colony-lifting assays, sequencing, Northern and Western blot analyses, enzyme activity assay, immunohistochemical staining, and functional studies. RESULTS: The gene correction frequency varied, ranging from less than 1% to more than 40%. This represented several magnitudes higher conversion rate compared with homologous recombination frequency, which is in the range of 10(-5) to 10(-6). The resulting phenotype changes lasted longer than one year in some studies. CONCLUSION: Chimeric RNA/DNA oligonucleotide-based gene therapy has the potential to develop into powerful therapeutic modality for genetic diseases. It can offer permanent expression and normal regulation of corrected genes in appropriate cells or tissues. Further efforts to elucidate the mechanisms of chimeric RNA/DNA oligonucleotide-based gene therapy are warranted in order to increase the efficacy and safety of this method.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Biochemical construction of specific chimeric plasmids from ColE1 DNA and unfractionated Escherichia coli DNA.

A series of chimeric plasmids was constructed using colicinigenic factor E1 (ColE1) DNA as the replicon and DNA fragments carrying the galactose or tryptophan operons from E. coli. Restriction endonuclease EcoRI digests of ColE1 DNA and various DNAs containing the trp or gal operons were joined by T4 polynucleotide ligase [polynucleotide synthetase (ATP), poly(deoxyribonucleotide):poly(deoxyribonucleotide) ligase (AMP-forming), EC 6.5.1.1]. Chimeric plasmids carrying the desired genes were selected after transformation of Trp- or Gal- cells with ligated DNA. By using this method, we constructed ColE1-gal and ColE1-trp chimeric plasmids in which the source of the bacterial gal and trp operons was an unfractionated EcoRI digest of total E. coli DNA. The frequency of recovery of such chimeric plasmids is 10 to 20 colonies per mug of ligated DNA used in the transformation step. The method utilized in this report for constructing specific chimeric plasmids from total E. coli DNA is very simple. It requires only endonuclease R-EcoRI and T4 polynucleotide ligase, both of which are commercially available. The yield of transformants suggests that this method will be useful for cloning and amplifying a wide variety of functionally defined genes from E. coli and other prokaryotic organisms.

Colicins↗
PubMed1987

Chimeric mouse-human IgG1 antibody that can mediate lysis of cancer cells.

A chimeric mouse-human antibody has been created that recognizes an antigen found on the surface of cells from many carcinomas. Immunoglobulin constant (C) domains of the mouse monoclonal antibody L6, C gamma 2a and C kappa, were substituted by the human C gamma 1 and C kappa by recombining cDNA modules encoding variable or C domains. The cDNA constructs were transfected into lymphoid cells for antibody production. The chimeric antibody and mouse L6 antibody bound to carcinoma cells with equal affinity and mediated complement-dependent cytolysis. In the presence of human effector cells, the chimeric antibody gave antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity at 100 times lower concentration than that needed for the mouse L6 antibody. The chimeric antibody, but not the mouse L6 antibody, is effective against a melanoma line expressing small amounts of the L6 antigen. The findings point to the usefulness of the chimeric antibody approach for obtaining agents with strong antitumor activity for possible therapeutic use in man.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Chimeric opioid peptides: tools for identifying opioid receptor types.

We synthesized several chimeric peptides in which the N-terminal nine residues of dynorphin-32, a peptide selective for the kappa opioid receptor, were replaced by opioid peptides selective for other opioid receptor types. Each chimeric peptide retained the high affinity and type selectivity characteristic of its N-terminal sequence. The common C-terminal two-thirds of the chimeric peptides served as an epitope recognized by the same monoclonal antibody. When bound to receptors on a cell surface or membrane preparation, these peptides could still bind specifically to the monoclonal antibody. These chimeric peptides should be useful for isolating mu, delta, and kappa opioid receptors and for identifying opioid receptors on transfected cells in expression cloning procedures. The general approach using chimeric peptides should be applicable to other peptide receptors.

Amino Acid Sequence↗