Synthetic formyl-methionyl chemoattractants: a conformation-activity study of oxidized tripeptides

The two diastereomeric sulphoxides and the sulphone derived from the formyl-methionyl tripeptide chemoattractant CHO-L-Met-L-Phe-OMe have been synthesized and fully characterized. The diastereomeric sulphoxide tripeptides have been separated at the stage of their N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl synthetic precursors. All of the oxidized sulphur derivatives induce secretion of granule enzymes with ED50s from 1-2 x 10(-9) M with no significant differences in activity among them. They are also active to the same relative extent in inducing chemotaxis. In parallel, a solution conformational analysis has been performed in solvents of widely different polarities and capabilities of H-bond formation using circular dichroism, infrared absorption and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance. No significant propensity for formation of intramolecularly (C = O...H-N) H-bonded folded forms has been detected in any of the four tripeptides. Intermolecular S = O...H-N interactions are postulated to tentatively explain the 1H nuclear magnetic resonance behavior of the Met and, particularly, Leu NH resonances of the two sulphoxide tripeptides in CDCl3 solution. The biological and conformational data agree with the recently proposed model of the chemotactic peptide receptor of rabbit neurotrophils, which involves the extended backbone of the integrity of the Met side-chain sulphide sulphur atom as a corollary point of ligand interaction.