Conformational requirements for activity of salmon calcitonin

A series of deletion-substitution analogs of salmon calcitonin (SCT) have been prepared containing combinations of a glycine substitution in position 8 and deletions of serine-2 and tyrosine-22. Biological activity of the analogs with respect to native SCT were determined in the rat hypocalcemic assay and by studying stimulation of cAMP formation and competition for binding of 125I-labeled SCT in T47 D human breast cancer cells. It was found that each of the analogs retained full potency, irrespective of the means of assessment. It is suggested that conservation of the alpha-helical region of SCT, along with the overall tertiary structure, are more important for peptide potency than chain length per se.