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Studies on Peptide 401 Isolated From Bee Venom

Rumjanek, Franklin David; (1975) Studies on Peptide 401 Isolated From Bee Venom. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

In the present work an attempt was made to elucidate some aspects of the biological events involved in the anti-inflammatory activity of peptide 401. The already described biological properties of peptide 401, isolated from the venom of the common European honey bee (Apis me11ifera) are its ability to degranulate mast cells and to a,ct as a potent anti-inflammatory agent in the rat. Very little is known, however, regarding the details of its mode of action. This problem was approached in the following ways: a) by determining if, like many of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, peptide 401 was able to inhibit prostaglandin synthesis, using for this a purified enzymatic complex, prostaglandin synthetase, obtained from sheep seminal vesicles. b) by investigating if there was any preferential binding of peptide 401 to the rat leucocytes, which are important intermediates in the inflammatory model used to assess the anti-inflammatory activity of peptide 401. Investigation on the interactions between peptide 401 and model membrane systems (liposomes) was also carried out in order to establish what major features of these model membranes would be important for the binding of peptide 401 and its relevance to the situation in vivo. c) by investigating it the anti-inflammatory actiVity of peptide 401 could in any way be explained by stimulation of synthesis and release of corticosteroids by adrenal cells of rats. d) by studying the possib1e interference of peptide 401 with lymphocyte maturation or with the unspecific PHA stimulation of lymphocyte maturation, since the lymphocytes appear to play an important role in the rat adjuvant arthritis, a model of inflammation in which peptide 401 also shows therapeutic action. It was concluded that the anti-inflammatory activity of peptide 401 could be explained, at least partially, by inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis, since this was demonstrated in vitro. Such a conclusion was supported by the observation that a modified peptide 401 (labelled with dansyl) seems to present a certain degree of specificity concerning its binding and/or absorption by the rat polymorphonucleocytes, which are one of the major sources of prostaglandins being formed during the carrageenan oedema. Peptide 401 did not show any direct action on rat adrenal cells regarding corticosteroid production, and it did not significantly influence the maturation of rat lymphocytes.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Title: Studies on Peptide 401 Isolated From Bee Venom
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Additional information: Thesis digitised by EThOS.
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1572324
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