[On the mode of action of bradykinin on smooth muscle (author's transl)]

At extremely low concentrations, in the picomole and the nanomole range, bradykinin produces contraction and relaxation of smooth muscle in the gastrointestinal and the urogenital tract. At the target organ, bradykinin interacts with discriminator proteins of the plasma membranes and triggers, via changes in certain membrane functions, its biological response:--The binding to the discriminator makes specific conformative and constitutional demands on the nonapeptide. The binding results from an angular conformation which exists in the solution. The complete sequence is responsible for this specific conformation. Consequently, the biological activity of partial sequences is low. The conformational analysis of analogues used in studies on the mechanism of action showed but slight differences from bradykinin. The interaction of these analogues with the discriminator protein is disturbed to a varying extent by modifications at positions 1, 5, 8 and 9 in the side chains. The affinity for the discriminator is affected, dependently on the respective configuration, by substitution on the beta-C atom in the two phenylalanine residues.--Bradykinin is not only bound to, but also degraded at, the plasma membranes of the rat uterus and duodenum. The bradykinin-degrading enzyme has been characterized as a kininase II with the aid of various inhibitors. The conformative and configurative prerequisites decisive for enzymatic degradation are others than those decisive for binding to the discriminator.--The changes in the activities of the membrane-bound adenylate and guanylate cyclases (produced by the bradykinin-discriminator complex) that take place at the rat duodenum and uterus in the presence of extracellular calcium ions contrast with each other: At the duodenum, the ratio between these two cyclic nucleotides is changed in favour of adenylate cyclase; and at the uterus, in favour of guanylate cyclase; Substances which increase or decrease the cAMP level may also potentiate or inhibit the relaxation of the duodenum. These bradykinin-induced changes in enzyme activity must be considered in connection with other effectors, e.g. prostaglandins and calcium ions.--The calcium-ion-dependence of the effect of bradykinin on the guinea-pig ileum and the rat uterus indicates the importance of these ions as additional second messengers. Bradykinin stimulates the influx of calcium ions into the ileum; it is ineffective if no extracellular calcium ions into the ileum; it is ineffective if no extracellular calcium ions are available. It seems that intracellular and membranal calcium is mobilized in the uterus, which is evidenced by results from experiments with EGTA on the isolated organ and by the release of calcium from plasma membranes after application of bradykinin. It is assumed that the observed changes in membrane functions are induced by the peptide-discriminator complex simultaneously and not in the form of a causal chain.