Pharmacology of SB-273779, a nonpeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide 1 receptor antagonist.

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), a potent vasodilatory and cardiotonic peptide, has a potential role for CGRP in diverse physiologic and pathophysiologic situations such as congestive heart failure, diabetes, migraine, and neurogenic inflammation. Although a peptide CGRP receptor antagonist, CGRP(8-37,) is available, its utility presents significant limitations for these indications. Here, we describe the properties of SB-(+)-273779 [N-methyl-N-(2-methylphenyl)-3-nitro-4-(2-thiazolylsulfinyl)nitrobenzanilide], a selective nonpeptide antagonist of CGRP(1) receptor. SB-(+)-273779 inhibited (125)I-labeled CGRP binding to SK-N-MC (human neuroblastoma cells) and human cloned CGRP(1) receptor with K(i) values of 310 +/- 40 and 250 +/-15 nM, respectively. SB-(+)-273779 also inhibited CGRP (3 nM)-activated adenylyl cyclase in these systems with IC(50) values of 390 +/-10 nM (in SK-N-MC) and 210 +/-16 nM (recombinant human CGRP receptors). Prolonged treatment (>30 min) of SK-N-MC cells with SB-(+)-273779 followed by extensive washing resulted in reduction in maximum CGRP-mediated adenylyl cyclase activity, suggesting that this compound has irreversible binding characteristics. In addition, SB-(+)-273779 antagonized CGRP-mediated 1) stimulation of intracellular Ca(2+) in recombinant CGRP receptors in HEK-293 cells, 2) inhibition of insulin-stimulated [(14)C]deoxyglucose uptake in L6 cells, 3) vasodilation in rat pulmonary artery, and 4) decrease in blood pressure in anesthetized rats. SB-(+)-273779 tested at 3 microM had no significant affinity for calcitonin, endothelin, angiotensin II, and alpha-adrenergic receptors under standard ligand binding assays. SB-(+)-273779 also did not inhibit forskolin and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide. These results suggest that SB-(+)-273779 is a valuable tool for studying CGRP-mediated functional responses in complex biological systems.

Vasodilatory effect of adrenomedullin in mouse aorta.

Human adrenomedullin (AM) and human calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) produced a concentration-dependent relaxation in mouse aorta, precontracted with noradrenaline. EC(50) values for AM and CGRP were 9.8 +/- 2.4 and 4.2 +/- 0.1 nmol/l, respectively. AM-mediated vasorelaxation was partially (3-fold) shifted by AM(22-52), the C-terminal AM fragment, but not by CGRP(8-37), a selective CGRP1 antagonist. Both AM(22-52) and CGRP(8-37) failed to inhibit CGRP-mediated vasorelaxation of mouse aorta rings. Binding of rat [(125)I]AM to these membranes was specific. Both human AM and AM(22-52) displaced rat [(125)I]AM binding in a concentration-dependent manner with IC(50) values of 12.0 +/- 4 and 19.4 +/- 8 nmol/l, respectively. In contrast, both human CGRP and CGRP(8-37) were weak in displacing [(125)I]AM binding. Very little specific binding was observed with [(125)I]CGRP. In conclusion, the data presented here demonstrate that the mouse aorta displays AM receptors that mediate vasorelaxation.

Impaired endothelium-dependent relaxation by adrenomedullin in monocrotaline-treated rat arteries.

The effects of adrenomedullin were evaluated in isolated vascular rings from rats treated with monocrotaline (60 mg/kg, s.c.) causing pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular hypertrophy within 3 to 4 weeks. Sham animals (NaCl-treated rats) were used for comparison. The relaxing effects of adrenomedullin (10(-8) M) and acetylcholine (10(-6) M) were determined in thoracic aorta and pulmonary artery rings precontracted with phenylephrine (10(-7) M). In sham animals, adrenomedullin caused significant vasorelaxation of aorta and pulmonary artery although of different amplitude (24 +/- 3% and 40 +/- 2%, respectively). A greater relaxation was observed in response to acetylcholine. Monocrotaline-treated rats exhibited a reduction in adrenomedullin relaxation in pulmonary artery (54 and 68% loss of effect, at 3 and 4 weeks, respectively, P < 0.01 vs. sham) and comparable reductions in acetylcholine responses. The decrease in adrenomedullin relaxing effect was less pronounced in aorta than in pulmonary artery, suggesting a distinct tissue sensitivity to monocrotaline. In contrast, the relaxing effect of acetylcholine on aorta was decreased at 4 weeks (36% reduction, P < 0.01 vs. sham). In this model, the adrenomedullin-induced relaxation of the pulmonary artery was impaired due to a severe endothelial dysfunction which may contribute partly to the evolving pathophysiological process.

Comparative affinities of adrenomedullin (AM) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) for [125I] AM and [125I] CGRP specific binding sites in porcine tissues.

We have investigated the binding characteristics of rat [125I] adrenomedullin (AM) and human [125I] calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) to membranes prepared from a number of porcine tissues including atrium, ventricle, lung, spleen, liver, renal cortex and medulla. These membranes displayed specific, high affinity binding for [125I] rat AM and [125I] human CGRP. Porcine lung displayed the highest density of binding sites for radiolabeled AM and CGRP followed by porcine renal cortex. Competition experiments performed with [125I] rat AM indicated that the rank order of potencies of various peptides for inhibiting [125I] rat AM binding to various tissues were rat AM > or = human AM > or = human AM(22-52) > h alpha CGRP > or = h alpha CGRP(8-37) >>>> sCT except spleen, atrium, renal cortex and renal medulla where rAM and hAM were 20-300 fold more potent than hAM (22-52). When the same experiments were performed using [125I] h alpha CGRP as the radioligand, the rank order potencies for various peptides were rAM = hAM > h alpha CGRP > h alpha CGRP(8-37) in most of the tissues except in spleen and liver where h alpha CGRP was the most potent ligand. In lung, h alpha CGRP was almost as potent as rAM and hAM in displacing [125I] h alpha CGRP binding. These data suggest the existence of distinct CGRP and AM specific binding sites in contrast to previous reports that showed that both peptides interact differently in rat tissues.