LRGILS-NH

Trypsin activates proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR(2)) by a mechanism that involves the release of a tethered receptor-activating sequence. We have identified two peptides, FSLLRY-NH(2) (FSY-NH(2)) and LSIGRL-NH(2) (LS-NH(2)) that block the ability of trypsin to activate PAR(2) either in PAR(2)-expressing Kirsten virus-transformed kidney (KNRK) cell lines or in a rat aorta ring preparation. The reverse PAR(2) peptide, LRGILS-NH(2) (LRG-NH(2)) did not do so and FSY-NH(2) failed to block thrombin activation of PAR(1) in the aorta ring or in PAR(1)-expressing human embryonic kidney cells. Half-maximal inhibition (IC(50)) by FSY-NH(2) and LS-NH(2) of the activation of PAR(2) by trypsin in a PAR(2) KNRK calcium-signaling assay was observed at about 50 and 200 microM, respectively. In contrast, the activation of PAR(2) by the PAR(2)-activating peptide, SLIGRL-NH(2) (SL-NH(2)) was not inhibited by FSY-NH(2), LS-NH(2), or LRG-NH(2). In a casein proteolysis assay, neither FSY-NH(2) nor LS-NH(2) inhibited the proteolytic action of trypsin on its substrate. In addition, FSY-NH(2) and LS-NH(2) were unable to prevent trypsin from hydrolyzing a 20-amino acid peptide, GPNSKGR/SLIGRLDTPYGGC representing the trypsin cleavage/activation site of rat PAR(2).

Protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) plays an extensive role in the regulation of digestive exocrine secretion. The present study examined whether PAR-2-related peptides could modulate tear secretion in rats and analyzed the underlying mechanisms. SLIGRL-NH(2), a PAR-2-activating peptide (PAR-2-AP) derived from mouse/rat PAR-2, when administered i.v. in combination with amastatin, an aminopeptidase inhibitor, evoked tear secretion, whereas LRGILS-NH(2), a PAR-2-inactive reversed peptide, had no such effect. In contrast, LSIGRL-NH(2), a partially reversed peptide known to be inactive with PAR-2, caused tear secretion equivalent to the effect of SLIGRL-NH(2). SLIGKV-NH(2), a human-derived PAR-2-AP, also induced significant tear secretion though to a lesser extent, whereas neither VKGILS-NH(2), a reversed peptide, nor LSIGKV-NH(2), a partially reversed peptide, produced any secretion. In desensitization experiments, after the first dose of SLIGRL-NH(2), the second dose of SLIGRL-NH(2) produced no tear secretion, whereas the response to LSIGRL-NH(2) was only partially inhibited by preadministration of SLIGRL-NH(2). Preadministration of LSIGRL-NH(2) abolished the response to subsequently administered LSIGRL-NH(2) but not SLIGRL-NH(2).

A cloned rat proteinase-activated receptor (PAR)(2)-expressing cell line (KNRK-rPAR(2)) was used to study the structure-activity relationships (elevated intracellular Ca(2+)) for a series of: 1) PAR(1)-derived receptor-activating ligands (PAR(1)-APs) [SFLLR (P5), SFLLR-NH(2) (P5-NH(2)), SFLLRNP (P7), SFLLRNP-NH(2) (P7-NH(2)), and TFLLR-NH(2) (TF-NH(2))] and 2) PAR(2)-derived-activating-peptides (PAR(2)-APs) [SLIGRL-NH(2) (SL-NH(2)), SLIGR-NH(2) (GR-NH(2)), and SLIGKV-NH(2) (KV-NH(2))]. The activities of the PAR-APs were compared with the PAR(2)-AP analog trans-cinnamoyl-Leu-Ile-Gly-Arg-Leu-Orn-NH(2) tc-NH(2)), which as a [(3)H]propionyl derivative ([(3)H]propionyl-tc-NH(2)) was used to develop a radioligand-binding assay for PAR(2). The relative potencies of the PAR-APs in the Ca(2+)-signaling assay were tc-NH(2) = SL-NH(2) > KV-NH(2) congruent with P5-NH(2) > GR-NH(2) > P7-NH(2) > P7 > P5 > TF-NH(2). The reverse sequence PAR-APs, LSIGRL-NH(2) (LS-NH(2)), LRGILS-NH(2) (LR-NH(2)), FSLLRY-NH(2) (FSY-NH(2)), and FSLLR-NH(2) (FS-NH(2)), as well as the Xenopus PAR(1)-AP TFRIFD-NH(2), were inactive. The relative biological potencies of the peptides were in accord with their ability to compete for the binding of [(3)H]propionyl-tc-NH(2) (tc-NH(2) = SL-NH(2) > GR-NH(2) congruent with P5-NH(2) > P5) to KNRK-rPAR(2) cells, whereas inactive peptides (FS-NH(2); LR-NH(2)) showed no appreciable binding competition.