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Biomedical subjects

W R Jackson

Publications and source records attributed to W R Jackson.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Chemical design of peripherally acting compounds.

1. Some guanidines, related in structure to mianserin and to 2-methyl-1,2,9,13b-tetrahydro-3H-dibenz[c,f]imadazo[1,5a] azepin-3-imine hydrobromide (WAL 801), have been synthesized and shown to be peripherally acting 5-HT2 antagonists. Structurally related compounds but not bearing a charged ionic group have been shown to have central activity. 2. Computer-aided molecular modelling has been used to establish a 5-HT2 pharmacophore. 3. The principle of exclusion from the CNS by incorporating a highly polar group to a biologically active molecule has been extended to the design and synthesis of a peripherally acting analgesic.

Computer Simulation

The combining site of the dinitrophenyl-binding immunoglobulin A myeloma protein MOPC 315.

Magnetic-resonance techniques are used to refine the model of the combining site of the Fv fragment of the dinitrophenyl-binding mouse myeloma protein MOPC 315 constructed by Padlan, Davies, Pecht, Givol & Wright (1976) (Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol.41, in the press). Light-absorption studies indicate a dinitrophenyl-tryptophan interaction in the Fv fragment of the type occurring in free solution. The Dnp-aspartate-tryptophan complex is therefore used as a starting point for the n.m.r. (nuclear-magnetic-resonance) analysis of the dinitrophenyl-Fv fragment interaction. Ring-current calculations are used to determine the geometry of the complex. The specificity of complex-formation between dinitrophenyl and tryptophan is confirmed by the lack of ring-current shifts of the dinitrophenyl resonances when tryptophan is replaced by any other aromatic amino acid. Proton n.m.r. difference spectra (at 270MHz), resulting from the addition of a variety of haptens to the Fv fragment, show that the combining site is highly aromatic in nature. Calculations on the basis of ring-current shifts define the geometry of the combining site, which involves a dinitrophenyl ring in van der Waals contact with four aromatic amino acid residues on the protein. The observation of a nuclear Overhauser effect on the H((3)) resonance of the dinitrophenyl ring provides additional constraints on the relative geometry of the H((3)) proton and an aromatic amino acid residue on the Fv fragment. The specificity of the Fv fragment for dinitrophenyl ligands arises from a stacking interaction of the dinitrophenyl ring with tryptophan-93(L), in an ;aromatic box' of essentially tryptophan-93(L), phenylalanine-34(H) and tyrosine-34(L); asparagine-36(L) and tyrosine-34(L) also contribute by forming hydrogen bonds with the nitro groups on the dinitrophenyl ring. The n.m.r. results also confirm that the antibody-hapten reaction may be visualized as a single encounter step. An Appendix shows the method of calculation of ring currents for the four aromatic amino acids and their use in calculating structures.

Binding Sites, Antibody

6-[N,S-dimethyl-N'-cyanothioureidomethyl]-6,11-dihydro-5H- dibenz[b,e]azepine hydrochloride (Fran 12): a histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine antagonist with pressor properties.

We have synthesized and examined some of the pharmacological properties of 6-[N,S-dimethyl-N'-cyanoisothioureidomethyl]-6,11-dihydro-5H- dibenz(b,e)azepine hydrochloride (Fran 12), a derivative of 6-methylaminomethyl-6,11-dihydro-5H- dibenz[b,e,]azepine. In the guinea-pig isolated ileum, Fran 12 (10(-7)-10(-5) M) caused parallel rightward shifts of the concentration-response curves to histamine. A Schild plot gave a pA2 of 7.48, with a slope not significantly different from -1.0. In the rat stomach fundus strip and in endothelium-denuded aortic rings, Fran 12 inhibited contractile responses to 5-hydroxytryptamine in a non-competitive manner. In both chloralose-anaesthetized and pithed rats, it inhibited pressor responses to 5-hydroxytryptamine. It had no effect on depressor responses to 5-hydroxytryptamine in anaesthetized rats. In pithed rats, Fran 12 (0.25-2 mg/kg, i.v.) produced dose-dependent increases in blood pressure. These were not inhibited by i.v. phentolamine, prazosin, yohimbine, propranolol, methysergide, pentolinium or atropine but were inhibited by verapamil. These results indicate that Fran 12 is a histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine antagonist which also exerts pressor effects via a peripheral action. The pressor action does not appear to be mediated via effects on alpha 1- or alpha 2-adrenoceptors, muscarinic or nicotinic cholinoceptors or 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors, although calcium channel activation may play a role.

Adrenergic alpha-Agonists