Abstract
Immunosuppressant peptide immunocortin for the first time was described in 1993. It corresponds to residues 11-20 of human Ig heavy chain (conserved motif of V(H) domain). There are no data about production of immunocortin by proteolysis of Ig in vivo. Synthetic immunocortin in concentration ~ 10(-9) M suppresses phagocytosis in peritoneal macrophages, ConA-dependent blast transformation of rat lymphocytes, exhibits ACTH-like neurotropic activity and was suggested as a potential drug for treatment of a multiple sclerosis (MS). Here, we report a sequence and method of synthesis of Abu-TGIRIS-Abu-NH(2) (Abu, alpha-aminobutyric acid), an artificial analogue of immunocortin. Biological trials of peritoneally injected Abu-TGIRIS-Abu-NH(2) gave an evidence of its better efficacy versus immunocortin in a test for suppression of the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in Dark Agouti (DA) rats.