Shumpei Sakakibara

TL;DR: The present data clearly demonstrates the presence of specific receptors for pET distinct from those of the well-recognized vasoconstrictors and voltage-dependent Ca2+-channels in cultured rat VSMC, and suggest that pET-induced increase in [Ca2+]i is involved in the mechanism of its vasoconStriction.

TL;DR: In the present study, the following groups were shown, for the first time, to be removed safely: the nitro group in nitroarginine, the diphenylmethyl group in Diphenylmethylamide, the t-butyl group in S-t- butylcysteine, and the isopropyloxycarbonyl group.

TL;DR: Twenty peptide-4-methylcoumarin amides (MCA) were newly synthesized and tested as possible substrates for alpha-thrombin, factor Xa, kallikreins, urokinase, and plasmin; these fluorogenic peptides contained arginine-MCA as the carboxyl-terminus.

TL;DR: The effects of synthetic rat adrenomedullin (rAM), a novel vasorelaxant peptide originally isolated from human pheochromocytoma, on receptor binding and cAMP generation were studied in cultured rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC), suggesting that VSMC possesses specific AM receptors functionally coupled to adenylate cyclase with which CGRP interacts.

TL;DR: The results indicated that the hydroxyprolyl residues preceding glycyl residues in the peptides stabilize the triple-helical structure, and they suggested therefore that hydroxy Proline may perform a similar function in collagen.