Design, synthesis, and characterization of a single-chain peptide antagonist for the relaxin-3 receptor RXFP3

• Relaxin-3 is a two-chain disulfide-rich peptide that is the ancestral member of the relaxin peptide family and, together with its G protein-coupled receptor RXFP3, is highly expressed in the brain. Strong evolutionary conservation of relaxin-3 suggests a critical biological function and recent studies have demonstrated modulation of sensory, neuroendocrine, metabolic, and cognitive systems. However, detailed studies of central relaxin-3-RXFP3 signaling have until now been severely hampered by the lack of a readily available high-affinity antagonist for RXFP3. Previous studies have utilized a complex two-chain chimeric relaxin peptide, R3(B Delta 23-27)R/I5, in which a truncated relaxin-3 B-chain carrying an additional C-terminal Arg residue was combined with the insulin-like peptide S (INSL5) A-chain. In this study we demonstrate that, by replacing the native Cys in this truncated relaxin-3 B-chain with Ser, a single-chain linear peptide of 23 amino acids that retains high-affinity antagonism for RXFP3 can be achieved. In vivo studies demonstrate that this peptide, R3 B1-22R, antagonized relaxin-3/RXFP3 induced increases in feeding in rats after intracerebroventricular injection. Thus, R3 B1-22R represents an excellent tool for biological studies probing relaxin pharmacology and a lead molecule for the development of synthetically tractable, single-chain RXFP3 modulators for clinical use.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Biokemi

Biochemistry

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)