B.M. Tyler

Specific gene blockade shows that peptide nucleic acids readily enter neuronal cells in vivo

Peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) are DNA analogs that can hybridize to complementary sequences with high affinity and stability. Here, we report the first evidence of intracellular delivery of PNAs in vivo. Two CNS receptors, an opioid (mu) and a neurotensin (NTR‐1), were targeted independently by repeated microinjection of PNAs into the periaqueductal gray. Behavioral responses to neurotensin (antinociception and hypothermia) and morphine (antinociception) were lost in a specific manner. Binding studies confirmed a large reduction in receptor sites. The loss of behavioral responses was long lasting but did fully recover. The implications of specifically and readily turning off gene expression in vivo are profound.

Effects of a novel neurotensin peptide analog given extracranially on CNS behaviors mediated by apomorphine and haloperidol.

Neurotensin (NT) is a neuropeptide neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. It has been implicated in the therapeutic and in the adverse effects of neuroleptics. Activity of NT in brain can only be shown by direct injection of the peptide into that organ. However, we have developed a novel analog of NT(8-13), NT69L, which is active upon intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection. Like atypical neuroleptics, NT69L blocked the climbing behavior in rats, but not the licking and sniffing behaviors of a high dose (600 microgram/kg) of the non-selective dopamine agonist apomorphine. Its blockade of climbing was very potent with an ED(50) (effective dose at 50% of maximum) of 16 microgram/kg. Both apomorphine and NT69L caused a long-lasting hypothermia, which was greater with the peptide but not synergistic in combination with apomorphine. The ED(50) of NT69L for hypothermia was 390 microgram/kg. NT69L (up to 5 mg/kg i.p.) did not produce catalepsy. However, when given before haloperidol, NT69L, but not clozapine, completely prevented catalepsy. When given after haloperidol, NT69L, but not clozapine, reversed haloperidols cataleptic effects with an ED(50) of 260 microg/kg. There was no significant difference between the ED(50)s for hypothermia and anticataleptic effects of NT69L. However, the ED(50) for blocking the effects of apomorphine was significantly lower than the other two. These data suggest that NT69L may have neuroleptic properties in humans and may be useful in the treatment of extrapyramidal side effects caused by typical neuroleptics such as haloperidol.

In vitro binding and CNS effects of novel neurotensin agonists that cross the blood-brain barrier

Animal studies with neurotensin (NT) directly injected into brain suggest that it has pharmacological properties similar to those of antipsychotic drugs. Here, we present radioligand binding data for some novel hexapeptide analogs of NT(8-13) at the molecularly cloned rat and human neurotensin receptors (NTR-1), along with behavioral and physiological effects of several of these peptides after intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration in rats. One unique analog, NT66L, which had high affinity (0.85 nM) for the molecularly cloned rat neurotensin receptor (NTR-1), caused a drop in body temperature and antinociception at doses as low as 0.1 mg/kg after i.p. injection. At 30 min post-injection, the ED50 for NT66L-induced hypothermia (rectal temperature) and antinociception (hot plate test) was 0.5 and 0.07 mg/kg, respectively. At a dose of 1 mg/kg i.p., NT66L caused 100% of the maximum possible effect for antinociception for up to 2 h after administration. At this dose body temperature lowering was greater than -2.5 degrees C from 20 to 120 min after i.p. administration. These results in animals suggest that NT66L has agonist properties at NTR-1 in vivo after extracranial administration and provide support for its further study in behavioral tests predictive of neuroleptic activity.

Evidence for additional neurotensin receptor subtypes: neurotensin analogs that distinguish between neurotensin-mediated hypothermia and antinociception

Neurotensin (NT), a tridecapeptide, is a neurotransmitter that elicits potent effects including hypothermia and antinociception in mice and rats. To date, there are two types of the neurotensin receptor (NTR) that have been molecularly cloned from the rat. However, several lines of evidence suggest the presence of additional NTR subtypes. We have identified a NT analog of the NT(8-13) fragment, NT27, that selectively causes only the hypothermic response in vivo, when microinjected into the periaqueductal gray (PAG) of rats. A dose of 18 nmol of NT or NT27 caused a body temperature lowering of 1.8 and 1.2 degrees C, respectively. This same dose of NT or NT27 yielded a hotplate maximum physiological effect of 75% and 25%, respectively. Interestingly, despite its high KD (620 nM) at the cloned NTR-1, NT27-I (the iodinated form of NT27) exerted a potent hypothermic effect even at a very low dose (0.6 nmol). Equally intriguing, was that NT24, a sterioisomer of NT27, with a much higher affinity (KD=0. 5 nM) at NTR-1, did not selectively induce hypothermia in mice, but did selectively induce hypothermia in rats.

In vivo studies with low doses of levocabastine and diphenhydramine, but not pyrilamine, antagonize neurotensin-mediated antinociception

The present study describes in vivo experiments in the rat addressing the role of levocabastine, and two other specific histamine H1 antagonists, diphenhydramine and pyrilamine, at neurotensin (NT)-mediated hypothermia and antinociception (hotplate). Levocabastine given i.p. or microinjected directly into the periaqueductal gray (PAG) did not cause antinociception or hypothermia. This indicates that despite the results with the recently-cloned levocabastine-sensitive NT receptors (NTR) in the rat (NTR-2) and mouse (NTRL), levocabastine by itself does not mediate either hypothermia or antinociception at NT receptors. However, pretreatment with 5 or 50 microg/kg of levocabastine or 5 microg/kg diphenhydramine all caused over a three-fold reduction in NT-mediated antinociception. Higher doses (500 or 5000 microg/kg) of levocabastine did not cause any antagonism of NT-mediated antinociception. All three antihistamines did not affect NT-mediated hypothermia. In addition, histamine H1 pathways are not involved in NT-mediated antinociception, as pretreatment with the much more potent histamine H1 antagonist pyrilamine did not affect antinociception mediated by NT. Therefore, these data may suggest the presence of yet unidentified NTR subtypes responsible for NT-mediated hypothermia and antinociception.

Synthesis of (2S)-2-amino-3-(1H-4-indolyl)propanoic acid, a novel tryptophan analog for structural modification of bioactive peptides

Abstract A convenient, multigram synthesis of a novel α-amino acid (2S)-2-amino-3-(1H-4-indolyl)propanoic acid (1a), is reported. An Fmoc–t-Boc derivative of this novel regioisomer of the natural aromatic amino acid tryptophan could be readily incorporated into bioactive synthetic peptides using standard solid phase synthesis. The synthesis featured the use of Schollkopf chiral auxiliary reagents for chirality induction during a key step.

434. Peptide nucleic acids targeted to the dopamine transporter alter behavior

laboratories have reported widely disparate CYP2A6 allele frequencies across European populations. These differences prompted us to reexamine the genotyping methods for CYP2A6. We developed an improved genotyping strategy using CYP2A6-specific nested PCR, and differential restriction enzyme digestion to identify variant nucleotides in exon 3. In addition, we developed a new nomenclature in which the “wild-type” allele, CYP2A6*1, is designated CYP2A6*A1-*B1, while the two null variants, CYP2A6*2 and CYP2A6*3, are designated CYP2A6*A2 and CYP2A6*B2, respectively. The frequencies of CYP2A6*A2 and CYP2A6*B2 were then estimated in samples from 6 populations; European-Americans, African-Americans, Japanese, Ashkenazi Jews, Ethiopian Jews, and Bedouins. CYP2A6 null allele frequencies were low (#5%) across all populations studied, and were substantially lower than those reported in most previous studies. Sets of similar allele frequencies appear to cluster according to genotyping methodology, suggesting the need for careful re-evaluation of: 1) the population genetics of CYP2A6, and 2) recent association studies of CYP2A6 alleles and nicotine dependence. The statistical power of future genetic association studies of these two CYP2A6 null alleles and nicotine dependence may be quite low in most populations.

121. Peptide nucleic acids delivered extracranially cross the blood brain barrier

widely in the mammaliannervous system. In the current study, we examinedDNAfrom blondsamplesof 150well characterizedschizophrenicpatientsas well as a normalcontrol.Polymerasechainreaetion was usedto amplifythe codingregionsandflankingintronicregionsof theNTR-l gene,as wellas an imperfeetTCCNrepeatin the 5’ regionof intronII and an imperfect38 bp repeatfrom the 3’ regionof intronII. These PCR fragmentswere analyzedusing the techniqueof dideoxy fingerprintingto detect point, deletion, and insertion mutations in schizophrenicpatients,in order to possiblycorrelatea mutationin the NTR-l genewith the presenceof this disease.