C-terminus of the B-chain of relaxin-3 is important for receptor activity

PLoS One. 2013 Dec 11;8(12):e82567. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082567. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Human relaxin-3 is a neuropeptide that is structurally similar to human insulin with two chains (A and B) connected by three disulfide bonds. It is expressed primarily in the brain and has modulatory roles in stress and anxiety, feeding and metabolism, and arousal and behavioural activation. Structure-activity relationship studies have shown that relaxin-3 interacts with its cognate receptor RXFP3 primarily through its B-chain and that its A-chain does not have any functional role. In this study, we have investigated the effect of modification of the B-chain C-terminus on the binding and activity of the peptide. We have chemically synthesised and characterized H3 relaxin as C-termini acid (both A and B chains having free C-termini; native form) and amide forms (both chains' C-termini were amidated). We have confirmed that the acid form of the peptide is more potent than its amide form at both RXFP3 and RXFP4 receptors. We further investigated the effects of amidation at the C-terminus of individual chains. We report here for the first time that amidation at the C-terminus of the B-chain of H3 relaxin leads to significant drop in the binding and activity of the peptide at RXFP3/RXFP4 receptors. However, modification of the A-chain C-terminus does not have any effect on the activity. We have confirmed using circular dichroism spectroscopy that there is no secondary structural change between the acid and amide form of the peptide, and it is likely that it is the local C-terminal carboxyl group orientation that is crucial for interacting with the receptors.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Cyclic AMP / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Models, Chemical
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs / physiology*
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / chemistry
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / metabolism*
  • Receptors, Peptide / metabolism
  • Relaxin / analogs & derivatives*
  • Relaxin / chemistry
  • Relaxin / metabolism

Substances

  • RLN3 protein, human
  • RXFP3 protein, human
  • RXFP4 protein, human
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled
  • Receptors, Peptide
  • Relaxin
  • Cyclic AMP

Grants and funding

This research was partially funded by NHMRC (Australia) project grants 508995, and 1023078 to JDW, MAH and RADB. Research at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health is supported by the Victorian Government Operational Infrastructure Support Program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.