Tuftsin, a natural activator of phagocytic functions including tumoricidal activity

Some of the properties of the tetrapeptide tuftsin, Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg, are discussed. We describe three phases of tuftsin activation of the macrophage. Tuftsinyltuftsin, the octapeptide Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg, was synthesized with a view of minimizing the formation of Lys-Pro-Arg, from tuftsin by tissue aminopeptidases. The tripeptide is a tuftsin inhibitor. The octapeptide proved to be quite effective in prolonging the life of syngeneic mice injected with L1210 leukemia cells. Its effect in our laboratory, was considerably better than we could obtain with tuftsin. A simple method for purifying tuftsin by high performance liquid chromatography is described using 0.75% trifluoroacetic acid in water. The tuftsin sequence Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg is present in P12 protein of Rausher murine leukemia virus. A close analog Thr-Arg-Pro-Lys appears in yet another virus protein the haemagglutinin of influenza virus. A second close analog Thr-Arg-Pro-Arg forms the penultimate carboxyterminal of a pancreatic polypeptide found in human and several animals.