Studies on the Molecular Basis of Collagen-Platelet Interaction and Synthesis of Peptides that will Inhibit this Interaction

摘要

Several lines of investigation have been pursued in the past year. An assay procedure utilizing latex particles as carriers of collagen or its CNBr peptides for induction of the release reaction was developed. The assays proved to be highly sensitive, opening the way for assay of small chymotryptic and tryptic collagen peptide capacity to cause the platelet release reaction. In another line of investigation, the peptides lys-(pro)4,8-lysine were synthesized and assayed. Although, when tested in solution, these peptides were inert with respect to provoking the platelet release reaction, these peptides coated on latex showed strong release-inducing activity. This activity could be further increased by coupling the peptides to octanoic acid. Further work is now carried out on synthesis of peptides with larger spacers (pro)12,16 in order to identify the optimal inter-lysine distance for platelet activation, as measured by the release reaction.