The completed amino-acid sequence of bovine neurophysin-II, a major neurohypophyseal hormone-binding protein in the hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal complex of cows, set the stage for the localization of the disulfide bonds of this sulfur-rich molecule. Neurophysin-II was digested with subtilisin or a pepsin-trypsin mixture. The resulting peptides were subjected to first-dimensional electrophoresis at pH 6.5, oxidized with performic acid, and subjected to second-dimensional electrophoresis under identical conditions as the first-dimensional separation, but in a perpendicular direction. Cysteic acid peptides were eluted (several after additional electrophoretic purification at pH 3.5) for amino-acid composition and NH(2)- and COOH-terminal analyses. Our assignment of the seven disulfide bridges present in neurophysin-II is as follows: Cys(10)-Cys(93); Cys(13)-Cys(95); Cys(21)-Cys(27); Cys(28)-Cys(44); Cys(54)-Cys(61); Cys(67)-Cys(73); Cys(74)-Cys(79). The assignment of disulfide bridges associated with Cys(27) and Cys(28) is tentative as it is derived from evolutionary consideration. The high disulfide content reduces drastically the allowed number of biofunctional conformers of neurophysin-II. It is suggested that neurophysin-II possesses a globular topography with minimal alpha-helix structure.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1972

Conformational energy studies of oxytocin and its cyclic moiety.

Conformational energies were calculated for oxytocin in water, starting with a conformation proposed from nuclear magnetic resonance measurements in [U-(2)H](CH(3))(2)SO. Calculations on the isolated ring showed that conformations with one transannular hydrogen bond had the same energies as those without such bonds; those with two such hydrogen bonds do not appear to form. Calculations on the whole molecule also indicated the existence of several low-energy minima in the energy surface, and no preference for hydrogen-bond formation in the cyclic moiety; the hydrogen bond proposed between the Gly peptide NH and the Cys-6 C=O in the acyclic moiety can form. The proposed proximity of the tail to the ring is one of two low-energy conformations found. The Tyr side chain had two conformations of comparable energy, one over the ring between the Gln and Asn side chains, and the other with the Tyr side chain away from the ring. The oxytocin molecule appears to be flexible, and is probably sensitive to changes in its environment.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1972

Evolution of neurophysin proteins: the partial sequence of bovine neurophysin-I (vasopressin-oxytocin-carrier proteins-automated amino-acid-sequence analysis-homology-protein evolution).

The sequence of the first 50 amino-acid residues of bovine neurophysin-I was determined. A comparison of this sequence with that of the 97-residue bovine neurophysin-II and the 92-residue porcine neurophysin-I molecules reveals a high degree of homology among these proteins. It is suggested that the binding site of neurophysin proteins for neurohypophyseal hormones is located in the middle portion of these molecules, where their sequences are virtually identical. The sequence data, as well as the occurrence of at least two neurophysins in both the pig and the cow, suggest that each species inherited at least two structural genes controlling the synthesis of these proteins. The most striking finding in the study was the observation of internal sequence homologies within the neurophysins. This result implies that these molecules arose by way of a series of partial gene duplications of a primitive gene that coded for a smaller ancestral protein.

Acetamides↗

PubMed1972

Conformation of lysine vasopressin: a comparison with oxytocin.

Starting with assignments of proton nuclear magnetic resonance previously made for oxytocin in deuterated dimethylsulfoxide at 220 MHz, we have assigned resonances for the mammalian antidiuretic hormone, lysine vasopressin. The results demonstrate that spectral assignments of neurohypophyseal hormones and their congeners can, within certain limits, be derived from each other. Comparison of the spectra of lysine vasopressin and oxytocin suggests that the gross backbone conformations of their 20-membered ring components are for the most part similar in deuterated dimethylsulfoxide, whereas the C-terminal acyclic amino-acid sequence of lysine vasopressin is more flexible than that of oxytocin.

Deuterium↗

PubMed1972

Proton magnetic resonance comparison of neurohypophyseal hormones and analogs: deletion of amino groups and the conformation of lysine vasopressin.

Proton nuclear magnetic resonances of two analogs of the mammalian antidiuretic hormone, lysine vasopressin, have been assigned. The analogs studied were deamino-lysine vasopressin and deamino-8-tosyllysine vasopressin, formally derived from lysine vasopressin by removal of the potential cationic sites. Most assignments made in deuterated dimethylsulfoxide at 220 MHz were directly derived from the already determined spectrum of lysine vasopression in this solvent [Walter et al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA (1972) 69, 1920]. Comparison of chemical shifts of peptide NH peaks, alphaCH-NH coupling constants, temperature dependence of peptide NH resonances, and proton-deuterium exchange rates revealed that from a conformational standpoint both deamino analogs occupy intermediary positions between lysine vasopressin and oxytocin.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1972

Method for correlation of proton magnetic resonance assignments in different solvents: conformational transition of oxytocin and lysine vasopressin from dimethylsulfoxide to water.

The peptide amide, primary carboxamide, and aromatic proton resonances were assigned to specific hydrogens of oxytocin and lysine vasopressin (Lys-VP) in water at 23 degrees at pH 2.5 and 4.2, respectively. We started with the spectral assignments of oxytocin and Lys-VP determined in deuterated dimethylsulfoxide (Me(2)SO) and monitored the course of each of these resonances as the proportion of water to Me(2)SO was gradually increased. Changes in each of the two hormones in chemical shifts and in some coupling constants indicate that conformational alterations occur in both oxytocin and Lys-VP during the solvent transition from Me(2)SO to water. This study is a specific application of a general method for correlating spectral assignments in different solvents and for monitoring conformational changes accompanying solvent transitions. Application of this technique requires only that the solvent components be miscible over the entire transitional range, that spectral changes of the solute be simple enough to follow, and that the associated structural changes of the solute be "rapid on the proton magnetic resonance time-scale."

Deuterium↗

PubMed1972