Tissue-specific peptide pools. Generation and function*
Vadim T. Ivanov**,
Oleg N. Yatskin, Olga A. Kalinina, Marina M. Philippova, Andrei A. Karelin,
and Elena Yu. Blishchenko Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov
Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy
of Sciences, Ul. Miklukho-Maklaya 16/10, 117871 Moscow, Russia
Abstract: Systematic analysis of several tissue extracts for
peptide components followed by bioactivity studies leads to formulation
of the concept of "tissue-specific peptide pools". According
to that concept the endogenous proteolysis of proteins with well-established
functions, such as hemoglobin, actin, and cellular enzymes in tissues
leads to formation of the sets (or pools) of bioactive peptides. The
sets are tissue-specific on one hand and conservative in a given tissue
at normal conditions on the other. The content and the composition of
pool components are sensitive both to pathologies linked with alterations
of tissue metabolism and to prolonged physiological changes. In vivo
formation of fragments of functional proteins includes several consecutive
proteolytic stages inside the cells and further release of bioactive
compounds into the surrounding medium. The effects of pool components
take place predominantly at tissue and cellular levels, their effects
being related to stimulation or inhibition of cell growth, induction
of cell differentiation, and death. The above-mentioned features lead
to the proposal that the main in vivo function of components
of tissue-specific peptides is maintenance of tissue homeostasis, i.e.,
the normal ratio of functional, dividing, differentiating, and dying
cells of tissues. Components of tissue-specific peptide pools display
several features distinguishing them from "classical" peptide
hormones and neuromediators. Summarizing, a novel peptidergic regulatory
system is considered.
*Lecture presented at the 5th International
IUPAC Symposium on Bioorganic Chemistry (ISBOC-5), Pune, India, 30 January
- 4 February, 2000.
**Corresponding author
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