The effect of glycation on the chemical and enzymatic stability of the endogenous opioid peptide, leucine–enkephalin, and related fragments

Nonenzymatic glycation is a posttranslational modification of peptides and proteins by sugars, which, after a cascade of reactions, leads to the formation of a complex family of irreversibly changed adducts implicated in the pathogenesis of human diseases. The stability of the Amadori compounds, the last reversible intermediates, determines the further course of the reaction. To provide information concerning the fate of glycated opioid peptides introduced into human circulation, the enzymatic (80% human serum) and chemical (phosphate buffer) stability of three Amadori compounds related to the endogenous opioid pentapeptide, leucine–enkephalin (Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Leu), and to its N-terminal fragments: N-(1-deoxy-d-fructos-1-yl)-l-tyrosyl-glycyl-glycyl-l-phenylalanyl-l-leucine, N-(1-deoxy-d-fructos-1-yl)-l-tyrosyl-glycyl-glycine, and N-(1-deoxy-d-fructos-1-yl)-l-tyrosine were investigated. The results obtained in human serum indicate that N-terminal glycation of leucine–enkephalin significantly enhances proteolytic stability. While leucine–enkephalin itself was rapidly degraded (t1/2=14.8 min), the glycated-derivative was slowly converted (t1/2=14 h) to the corresponding Amadori compound of Tyr-Gly-Gly and Phe-Leu. In phosphate buffer, the rate of hydrolysis of the Amadori compounds depends on the structure and length of the peptide moiety as well as on the concentration of the phosphate buffer. The hydrolysis patterns for the Amadori compounds in phosphate buffer and in human serum were not the same and appear to be specific for each substrate.