CA1087171A - Polypeptide agents for blocking the human allergic response - Google Patents

Abstract

POLYPEPTIDE AGENTS FOR BLOCKING THE HUMAN

ALLERGIC RESPONSE

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A group of relatively low molecular weight polypeptides having from 3 to 10 amino acids block the allergic response.
These "blocking" polypeptides have amino acid sequences corresponding to amino acid sequences appearing in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th domains of the epsilon chain of IgE. Specific active "blocking" polypeptides are disclosed and the syn-thesis and use thereof are described.

Description

10~717~

Background of the Invention The symptoms of human allergic disease or more properly the allergic syndrome, are brought about through the release into the organism of vasoactive amines, notably histamine.
The histamine is normally stored in special cells known as mast cells and basophil leucocytes distributed throughout the organism. The mast cells are dispersed throughout human tissue structures, while the basophils circulate with the blood into the body; i.e., within the vascular system.
The above-noted cells manufacture and store histamine within their internal structures, and the histamine remains therein unless a specialized sequence of events occur to trigger the release of histamine from within the cell structures into the surrounding tissues and vascular system.

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More specifically, histamine will be released in response to the presence of specific antigens (allergens) that gain entrance into the organism or may be released by the organism in response to some t~aumatic occurrence.
However, the usual release of histamine from the mast cells or basophils is triggered by a necessary sequence of chemical and immunological events taking place on and in the mast cell and basophil structures., Specifically, the allergen-mast cell (basophil) inter-action is mediated by a group of proteins known as immuno-globulin E (IgE) that are manufactured within the body.
The IgE manufactured by the human organism is a complex arrangement of polypeptide chains, each molecule of which may have certain variations in the sequence of amino acids in the polypeptide chain, but all of which in essence may . .
be characterized as having a "Y" like structure, wherein the "tail" ~actually the base of the l'Yn) (Fc) polypeptide portion or fragment contains a fixed sequence or "constant region" o~ peptides along the chain. The "heads" (which are equivalent to the upper arms of the "Y" structure) may ha~e regions wherein the polypeptide chain varies (the variable region of the Fab) from molecule to molecule.
Thus, the IgE molecules generally have identical "tail"
peptide sequences but may have a great number of different nhead" peptide sequences.
The allergic or immunologic release of histamine within the organism from the specialized mast cells and basophils can occur only under the following circumstances:
All mast cells or basophils possess a number of receptor sites th,at are available for "locking" onto the

2--- lOB7171 constant region or Fc portion of IgE molecules. These "binding sites" are specialized areas on the cell membranes wherein a special geometric or spatial molecular arrange-~ ment of molecules occurs, thus enabling this "binding or receptor site" to "lock" into the Fc fragment or a site in the constant region of the IgE molecule.
Should a wandering IgE molecule find a free "binding receptor site" on a mast cell or basophil, it locks or attaches at its Fc end onto the cell bindlng ~receptor) site to secure the IgE molecule to the mast cell or basophil.
When the Fc portion of the IgE molecule is secured to the receptor "binding site", the upper arms of the "Y' shaped molecule (the F(ab) portion) are free to extend above the cell surface. These extended upper peptide chains in turn act as receptors to allergens which may be present in the organism's environment. If the polypeptide structure of the Fab portions are compatible with a particular allergen the allergen may attach to the outwardly extending Fab of the IgE polypeptide chain. Should such an attach-ment occur, the mast cell or basophil is automatically stimulated or "triggered" to release histamine from within its cell structure into the local environment of the mast cell or basophil. Once the histamine is reIeased, the familiar "allergic symptoms" are manifested.
The present state of therapy of allergic disease includes hyposensitization (repeated injections of offending allergens to produce "blocking a~tibodiesn), systemic therapy with anti-histamines (which compete with histamines released during the allergic reaction) and disodium cromo-glycate ~which may lower the amount of histamine released ~` 1087171 by allergic reactions). Corticosteroids~ isoprenaline and theophylline as well as other medications are also utilized in the therapy of allergy. However, none of these afore-mentioned drugs or techniques interfere with the basic IgE-mast cell (basophil) reaction itself, and all have significant limitations in usefulness.
Another course of therapy suggested by the analysis above of the allergen-IgE-mast cell (basophil) reaction - would be the introduction into the organism of a drug that would "block" the mast cell (basophil) receptor or binding sites against the attachment of the IgE molecule. Of equal importance would be a drug that would not only "block"
the binding sites, but in addition would displace IgE from binding sites to which the IgE was already attached. Any filling up or diminution in the binding sites available for IgE attachment would quite obvLously reduce the number of aliergen-IgE-mast cell (basophil) reactions, and as a consequence, thereby reduce the release of histamine into the organism and thereby reduce or prevent the allergic reaction.
Some prior attempts have been made to use this therapeutic approach. For instance, in 1968 Stanworth, et al published in Lancet (July 6, 1968) a study wherein the whole Fc portion of the IgE as well as small proteo-lytic digestion fragments thereof were tested for their ability to suppress the allergic reaction. This study suggested that only the complete Fc fragment of IgE was as effective as the intact IgE Molecule in inhibiting allergic reaction while the digestion fragments were ineffective.
That is, any fraction of the Fc peptide chain less than -1~87171 the entire Fc polypeptide was unable to prevent an induced allergic reaction. The Fc fragment itself cannot be used as a therapeutic agent or drug.
Description of the Invention The present invention is directed to novel low molecular weight polypeptides which are useful as therapeutic agents in the treatment of allergic disease or the allergic syndrome.
More specifically, the present invention is directed to polypeptides containing from 3 to 10 amino acid residues which have the property of blocking the human allergic response. These relatively short chain polypeptides correspond to sequences occuring in the second (C-2), third (C-3), and fourth (C-4) domains of the constant (Fc) region of the epsilon (~) peptide chain of the IgE molecule.
The amino acid sequence of the entire E chain has been recently determined by Bennich and his coworkers and reported in ~Progress in Immunology II-Vol. 1: Immunochemical Aspects", July, 1974, pp. 49-58, North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1974. The sequence of the Fc region in which the amino acid sequences of the present invention occur is as follows, with the marginal numbers indicating the numerical position in the sequence of the amino acid to the right thereof:
265-(Met)-Asp-Val-Asp-Leu-Ser-Thr-Ala-Ser-Thr-Glu-Ser-Glu-Gly-Glu-Leu-Ala`Ser-Thr-Glu-Ser-Glu-Leu-Thr-289- Leu-Ser-Gln-Lys-His-Trp-Leu-Ser-Asp-Arg-Thr-Tyr-Thr-Cys-Glu-Val-Thr-Tyr-Glx-Gly-His-Thr-Phe-Glx-313- Asx-Ser-Thr-Lys-Lys-C~s-Ala-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg-Gly-Val-Ser-Ala-Tyr-Leu-Ser-Arg-Pro-Ser-Pro-Phe---108717~
337- Asp-Leu-Phe-Ile-Arg-Lys-Ser-Pro-~hr-Ile-Thr-Cys-Leu-Val-Val-Asx-Leu-Ala-Pro-Ser-Lys-Gly-Thr-Val-361- Asn-Leu-Thr-Trp-Ser-Arg-Ala-Ser-Gly-Lys-Pro-Val-Asx-His-Ser-Thr-Arg-Lys-Glu-Glu-Lys-Gln-Arg-Asn-385- Gly-Thr-Leu-Thr-Val-Thr-Ser-Thr-Leu-Pro-Val-Gly-Thr-Arg-Asx-Trp-Ile-Glu-Gly-Glu-Thr-Tyr-Glx-Cys-409- Arg-Val-Thr-His-Pro-His-Leu-Pro-Arg-Ala-Leu-Met-Arg-Ser-Thr-Thr-Lys-Thr-Ser-Gly-Pro-Arg-Ala-Ala-433- Pro-Glu-Val-Tyr-Ala-Phe-Ala-Thr-Pro-Glu-Trp-Pro-Gly-Ser-Arg-Asp-Lys-Arg-Thr-Leu-Ala-Cys-Leu-Ile-457- Gln-Asn-Phe-Met-Pro-Glu-Asp-Ile-Ser-Val-Gln-Trp-Leu-~is-Asn-Glu-Val-Gln-Leu-Pro-Asp-Ala-Arg-His-481- Ser-Thr-Thr-~Gln-Pro-Arg-Lys-Thr-Lys-Gly-Ser-Gly-Phe-Phe-Val-Phe-Ser-Arg-Leu-Glu-Val-Thr-Arg-Ala-505- Glu-Trp-Gln-Glu-Lys-Asp~Glu-Phe-Ile-Cye-Arg-Ala-Val-His-Glu-Ala-Ala-Ser-Pro-Ser-Gln-Thr-Val-Gln-529- Arg-Ala-Val-Ser-Val-Asn-Pro-Gly-Lys The novel compounds of the present invention are poly-peptides comprising between 3 and 10 amino acids in sequence, said sequence selected from a portion of the above amino acid sequence; as well as the salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof.
As set forth above and for convenience in describing this invention, the conventional abbreviations for the various amino acids are used. They are familiar to those skilled in the art; but for clarity, those with which this invention is concerned are listed below. All chiral amino acid residues referred to herein are of the natural or L-configuration,unless otherwise specified. All peptide

3~ sequences mentioned herein are written according to the . .

` 1087171 usual convention whereby the N-terminal amino acid is on the left and the C-terminal amino acid is on the right:
Asp = Aspartic Acid Ala = Alanine Arg = Arginine Asn = Asparagine Asx = Aspartic Acid or Asparagine (indicates uncertainty in degradation analysis) Cys = Cysteine Gly = Glycine Gln = Glutamine Glu = Glutamic acid Glx = Glutamic Acid or Glutamine (indicates uncertainty in degradation analysis) His z Histidine Ile = Isoleucine Leu - Leucine . Lys = Lysine Met = Methionine Phe = Phenylalanine - -Pro = Proline Ser = Serine Thr = Threonine Trp = Tryptophan Tyr = Tyrosine Val = Valine - As used herein the term "salts" refers to both salts of a carboxyl group of the polypeptide chain as well as acid addition salts of an amino group of the polypeptide chain. Salts of a carboxyl group may be formed with either inorganic or organic bases. Inorganic salts include for ios7~7~1 .
example the alkali metal salts such as the sodium, potassium and lithium salts; the alkaline earth salts such as for example the calcium, barium, and magnesium salts; and the ammonium, ferrous, ferric, zinc, manganous, aluminum, man-ganic salts, and the like. Salts with organic amines include those formed, for example, with trimethylamine, triethylamine, tri(n-propyl)amine, dicyclohexylamine, ~-(di-methylamino) ethanol, tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane, tri-ethanolamine, 3-(diethylamino) ethanol, arginine~ lysine, histidine, N-ethylpiperidine, hydrabamine, choline, betaine, ethylenediamine, glucosamine, methylglucamine, theobromine, purines, piperazines, piperidines, caffeine, procaine, and the like.
Acid addition salts include, for example salts, with mineral acids such as for example hydrochloric acid, hydro-bromic acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, nitric acid and the like; and salts with organic acids such as for example acetic acid, oxalic acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, glucon-ic acid, citric acid, malic acid, ascorbic acid, benzoic acid, and the like.
As used herein, the term "esters" refers to esters of a carboxyl group of the polypeptide formed with straight or :. branched chain saturated .aliphatic..alcohols.of from one to ..
twelve carbon atoms, such as the methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, . 25 isopropyl, n-butyl, t-butyl, n-amyl, n-hexyl, octyl,. decyl, and dodecyl esters.
As used herein the term "amides" refers to amides of a carboxy group of the polypeptide formed with ammonia, or with primary or secondary amines having up to 12 carbon atoms such as for example dimethylamine, diethylamine, di(n-butyl)-lOB7171 amine, n-hexylamine, piperidine, pyrrolidine, morpholine, di(n-hexyl)amine, N-methylpiperazine and the like.
"N-acyl derivatives"refer to those derivatives of an amino group of the polypeptide formed with acyl moieties (e.g. alkanoyl or carbocyclic aroyl groups) containing up to 12 carbon atoms, such as formamides, acetamides, benzamides, and the like.
"O-acyl derivatives"refer to those derivatives of a hydroxyl group of the polypeptide chain formed with acyl moieties (e.g. alkanoyl or car~ocyclic aroyl groups) con-taining up to 12 carbon atoms, such as formates, acetates, propionates, benzoates, and the like.
Preferred polypeptides of this invention are those which have amino acid sequences that are non-analogous with comparable regions in other immunoglobulins. In this regard, the following peptides may be especially mentioned:
266 - Asp-Val-Asp-Leu-Ser 271 - Thr-Ala-Ser-Thr-Glu 266 - Asp-Val-Asp-Leu-Ser-Thr-Ala-Ser-Thr-Glu 289 - Leu-Ser-Gln-Lys-His 319 - Ala-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg 320 - Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg 321 - Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg 322 - Asp-Pro-Arg 354 - Ala-Pro-Ser-Lys-Gly-Thr 367 - Ala-Ser-Gly-Lys-Pro 437 - Ala-Phe-Ala-Thr-Pro-Glu-Trp-Pro-Gly-Ser 437 - Ala-Phe-Ala-Thr-Pro 442 - Glu-Tr~-Pro-Gly-Ser 476 - Pro-Asp-Ala-Arg-His-Ser _9_ 521 - Ala-Ser-Pro-Ser-Gln as well as salts, esters, amides, ~-acyl and O-acyl deriva-tives thereof.
A particularly preferred polypeptide is Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg.
The above list is not intended to be exhaustive and additional peptides having shorter sequences than the above, or having sequences with additional amino acids therein, or sequences taken from other regions of the C-2, C-3 or C-4 domains, are of importance.
In a second aspect, the present invention is direrted to a method useful for preventing or relieving symptoms associated with allergic manifestations such as are brought about by antigen-antibody ~allergic) reactions. The method hereof serves to block (i.e., inhibit or prevent) the effects of the allergic reaction when the subject polypeptide is admin-. istered in an effective amount. Thus this aspect of the present invention relates to a method useful for preventing or inhibiting the effects of allergic reaction which com-prises administering to a mammalian subject ~preferably a human) an effective amount of a polypeptide or derivative thereof as hereinabove described.
While the compounds of the present invention are believed to act by "blocking" IgE binding sites as described herein, it is not intended that the present invention be limited to any particular mechanism of action.
~he present invention, in a third aspect, is directed to pharmaceutical compositions useful for blocking (i.e. prevent-ing or inhibiting~ the effects of the allergic reaction comprising an effective amount of a polypeptide or derivative thereof, as described hereinabove, in admixture with a pharmaceuti-cally acceptable non-toxic carrier.
In the practice of the method of the present invention, an effective amount of a polypeptide or derivative thereof, or a pharmaceutical composition containing same, as defined above, is administered via any of the usual and acceptable methods known in the art, either singly or in combination with another compound or compounds of the present invention or other pharmaceutical agents such as antihistamines, corticosteroids, and the like. These compounds or composi-tions can thus be administered orally~ sublingually~ topi-cally (e.g. on the skin or in the eyes), parenterally (e.g.
intramuscularly, intravenously, subcutaneously or intrader-mally), or by inhalation, and in the form of either solid, liquid or gaseous dosage including tablets, sus-pensions, and aerosols, as discussed in more detail herein-after. The administration can be conducted in single unit dosage form with continuous therapy or in single dose therapy ad libitum.
In one preferred embodiment, the method of the present invention is practiced when the relief of symptoms i9 specifically required or perhaps imminent; in another pre-ferred embodiment, the method hereof is effectively practiced as continuous or prophylactic treatment.
In view of the foregoing as well as in consideration of the degree or severity of the condition being treated, age of subject, and so forth, all of which factors being determinable by routine experimentation by one skilled in .

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0~717~ -the art, the effective dosage in accordance herewith can vary over a wide range. Since individual subjects vary in their IgE content, an effective systemic dosage in accordance herewith can best be described as between 2x103 and 2X106 times the IgE content, on a molar scale. For an average subject this would be between about 0.5 and 500 mg/kg~day, depending upon the potency of the compound. Of course, for localized treatment, e.g., of the respiratory system, pro-portionately less material will be required.
Useful pharmaceutical carriers for the preparation of the compositions hereof, can be solids, liquids or gases;
thus, the compositions can take the form of tablets, pills, capsules, powders, enterically coated or other protected formulations (such as by binding on ion exchange resins or other carriers, or packaging in lipid-protein vesicles or adding additional terminal amino acids or replacing a te m inal amino acid in the L-form with one in the D-form), sustained release formulations, solutions (e.g. opthalmic drops), suspensions, elixirs, aerosols, and the like. The carrier can be selected from the various oils including those of petroleum, animal, vegetable or synthetic origin, for example, peanut oil, soybean oil, mineral oil, sesame oil, and the like. Water, saline, aqueous dextrose, and glycols are preferred liquid carriers, particularly (when isotonic) for injectable solutions. Suitable pharmaceutical excipients include starch, cellulose, talc, glucose, lactose, sucrose, gelatin, malt, rice, flour, chalk, silica gel, magnesium stearate, sodium-stearate, glycerol monostearate, sodium chloride, dried skim milk, glyceroi, propylene glycol, water, ethanol, and the like. The compositions may be sub-.

` -- lOB7171 jected to conventional pharmaceutical expedients such as sterilization and may contain conventional pharmaceutical additives such as preservatives, stabilizing agents, wetting or emulsifying agents, salts for ad~usting osmotic pressure, buffers,and the like. Suitable pharmaceutical carriers and their formulation are described in "Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences" by E. W. Martin. Such compositions will, in any event, contain an effective amount of the active compound together with a suitable amount of carrier so as to prepare the proper dosage orm for proper administration to the host.
To be effective for the prevention or treatment of the allergic reaction it is important that the therapeutic agents be relatively non-toxic, non-antigenic and non-irritating at the levels in actual use. This has been -demonstrated to be the case with all of the present compounds whose preparation is described hereinbelow.
The polypeptides of the present invention may be synthesized by-any techniques that are known to those skilled inthe peptide art. An excellent summary of the many techniques so available may be found in J. Meienhofer, "Hormonal Proteins and Peptides", Vol. 2, p. 46., Academic Press (New York), 1973 for solid phase peptide synthesis and E. Schroder and K. Lubke, "The Peptides", Vol. l, Academic Press (New York), 1965 for classical solution synthesis.
In general, these methods comprise the sequential addition to a growing chain of one or moxe amino acids or suitably protected amino acids. Normally, either the amino or carboxyl group of the first amino acid is protected, .. . . .

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by a suitable protecting group. The protected or deriva-tized amino acid can then be either attached to an inert solid support or utilized in solution by adding the next amino acid in the sequence having the complimentary (amino or carboxyl) group suitably protected, under conditions suitable for forming the amide linkage. The protecting group is then removed from this newly added amino acid residue and the next amino acid (suitably protected) is then added, and so forth. After all the desired amino acids have been linked in the proper sequence, any remaining protecting groups (and any solid support) are removed sequentially or concurrently, to afford the final - polypeptide. By simple modification of this general pro-cedure, it is possible to add more than one amino acid at lS a time to a growing chain, for example, by coupling (under conditions which do not racemize chiral centers) a pro-tected tripeptide with a properly protected dipeptide to form, after deprotection, a pentapeptide.
Protecting groups should have-the properties of being stable to the conditions of peptide linkage formation, while being readily removable without destruction of the growing peptide chain or racemization of any of the chiral centers contained therein.
Among the classes of amino protecting groups useful for stepwise synthesis of polypeptides are: (1) acyl type protecting groups illustrated by the following: formyl, trifluoroacetyl, phthalyl, toluen~sulfonyl (tosyl), benzen-sulfonyl, o-nitrophenylsulfenyl, tritylsulfenyl, o-nitrophen-oxyacetyl, chloroacetyl, acetyl, y-chlorobutyryl, etc.;
3~ (2) aromatic urethan type protecting groups illustrated by .
:

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benzyloxycarbonyl and substituted benzyloxycarbonyl such as p-chlorobenzyloxycarbonyl, p-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl, p-bromobenzyloxycarbonyl, p-methoxybenzyloxycarbonyl, 2-(p-biphenylyl)isopropyloxycarbonyl, 2-benzoyl-1-methylvinyl;
~3) aliphatic urethan protecting groups illustrated by tert-butyloxycarbonyl, tert-amyloxycarbonyl diisopropylmethoxy-carbonyl, isopropyloxycarbonyl, ethoxycarbonyl, allyloxy-carbonyl; (4) cycloalkyl urethan type protecting groups illustrated by cyclopentyloxycarbonyl, adamantyloxycarbonyl, cyclohexyloxycarbonyl; (5) thio urethan type protecting groups such as phenylthiocarbonyl; (6) alkyl type protecting groups as illustrated by triphenylmethyl (trityl) and benzyl;
and (7) trialkylsilyl groups such as trimethylsilyl.
Preferred protecting groups are tert-butyloxycarbonyl (t-BOC),and tert-amyloxycarbonyl(AOC).
Among the classes of carboxyl protecting groups useful for stepwise synthesis of polypeptides are: (1) substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic ester protecting groups such as methyl, ethyl, t-butyl, 2,2,2-trichlorethyl and t-butyl esters; (2) aralkyl ester protecting groups such as benzyl, p-nitrobenzyl, p-methoxybenzyl, diphenylmethyl or triphenyl-methyl (trityl) esters; (3) N-substituted hydrazides such as t-butyloxycarbonylhydrazides-and carbobenzyloxycarbonyl-hydrazides; (4) amide protecting groups formed by condensa-tion of a carboxyl moiety with e.g. ammonia, methylamine, ethylamine, diphenylmethylamine; and the like.
Hydroxyl groups of amino acids such as serine, threo-nine and hydroxyproline may be protected as aralkyl ethers such as benzyl ethers.
Suitable solid supports useful for the above synthesis ' , . : . .' ~, .

are thos~ materials which are inert to the reagents and reaction conditions of the stepwise condensation-deprotection reactions, as well as being insoluble in the media used.
Materials that may be used include, for example, crosslinked polystyrene divinylbenzene resins, crosslinked polyamide resins, polyethyleneglycol resins, appropriately function-alized glass beads, and the like.
The first amino acid residue is linked to the solid support by forming a covalent bond with an active group on the resin. Suitable active groups for this purpose include, for example, chloromethyl, benzhydrilamino, hydroxymethyl, phenacyl halide, dehydroalanine and the like. ~he preferred active group is chloromethyl. The first amino acid may be coupled to the preferred chloromethyl resin by one of several base catalyzed processes wherein the triethylamine, tetramethylammonium or cesium ~or similar) salt of the - - carboxylic acid is heated with the resin in a solvent such as ethanol, dioxane, dimethylformamide, and the like.
Suitable reagents that effect amide formation between carboxyl and amino groups are known in the art and include, for example, ~1) carbodiimides such as for example dicyclo-hexylcarbodiimide (DCC), t2) a carbodiimide plus an additive - such as l-hydroxybenzotriazole or ethyl 2-hydroximino-2-cyanoacetate; (3) alkyl chloroformates such as isobutyl-chloroformate or ethylchloroformate; (4) N-protected amino acids activated by formation of a suitable ester, for example, substituted phenyl esters, aryl or alkyl thio-esters, substituted 8-hydroxy isoquinoline esters, 2-thio-pyridyl esters and similar esters well known to those skilled in the art.

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A preferred method for synthesizing the peptides of the present invention is the so-called "Merrifield" syn-thesis technique which is well known to those skilled in the art and is set forth in detail in the article entitled ~Synthesis of a Tetrapeptide" by R. B. Merrifield, Journal of the American Chemical Societyc Vol. 85, pp. 2149-2154 (1963) as well as Meienhofer, cited above.
In this preferred method a peptide of any desired length and of any desired sequence is produced through the stepwise addition of amino acids to a growing peptide chain which is bound by a covalent bond to a solid resin particle.
In the preferred application of this method the C-terminal end of the growing peptide chain is covalently bound to a resin particle and amino acids having protected amino groups are added in the stepwise manner indica~e~
above. A preferred amino protecting group is the t-BOC
group, which is stable to the condensation conditions and yet is readily removable without destruction of the peptide bonds or racemization of chiral centers in the peptide chain.
At the end of the procedure the final peptide is cleaved from the resin, and any remaining protecting groups are removed, by treatment under acidic conditions such as, for example, with a mixture of hydrobromic acid and trifluoro-acetic acid or with hydrofluoric acid, or the cleavage from the resin may be effected under basic conditions~ for example, with triethylamine, the protecting groups then being removed under acid conditions.
The cleaved peptides are isolated and purified by means well known in the art such as, for example, lyo-philization followed by either exclusion or partition .

- 10~7~71 chromatography on polysaccharidegel media such as Sephadex G-25*, or countercurrent distribution. The compo-sition of the final peptide may be confirmed by amino acid analysis after degradation of the peptide by standard means.
Salts of carboxyl groups of the peptide may be pre-pared in the usual manner by contacting the peptide with -one or more equivalents of a desired base such as, for example, a metallic hydroxide base e.g., sodium hydroxide;
a metal carbonate or bicarbonate base such as for example sodium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate; or an amine base such as for example triethylamine, triethanolamine, and the like.
Acid addition salts of the polypeptides may be pre-pared by contacting the polypeptide with one or more equivalents of the desired inorganic or organic acid, such as, for example, hydrochloric acid.
Esters of carboxyl groups of the polypeptides may be prepared by any of the usual means known in the art for converting a carboxylic acid or precursor to an ester. One preferred method for preparing esters of the present poly-peptides, when using the Merrifield synthesis technique described above, is to cleave the completed polypeptide from the resin in the presence of the desired alcohol either under basic or acidic conditions, depending upon the resin. Thus, the C-terminal end of the peptide when freed from the resin is directly esterified without isolation of the free acid.
Amides of the polypeptides of the present invention !~
may also be prepared by techniques well known in the art for converting a carboxylic acid group or precursor, to *trade mark -18-.: . : . . ' .

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1087~71 an amide. A preferred method for amide formation at the C-terminal carboxyl group is to cleave the polypeptide from a solid support with an appropriate amine, or to cleave in the presence of an alcohol, yielding an ester, followed S by aminolysis with the desired amine.
N-acyl derivatives of an amino group of the present polypeptides may be prepared by utilizing an N-acyl pro-tected amino acid for the final condensation, or by acylating a protected or unprotected peptide. O-acyl derivatives may be prepared, for example, by acylation of a free hydroxy peptide or peptide resin. Either acylation may be carried out using standard acylating reagents such as - acyl halides, anhydrides, acyl imidazoles, and the like.
Both N- and O- acylation may be carried out together, if desired.
The coupling, deprotection/cleavage reactions and preparation of derivatives of the subject polypeptides are suitably carried out at temperatures between about -10 and +50C., most- preferably about 20-25C. The exact temperature for any particular reaction will of course be dependent upon the substrates, reagents, solvents and so forth, all being well within the skill of the practi-- - tioner-. Illustrative reaction-conditions for these processes may be gleaned from the examples.
The following examples are given to enable those skilled in the art to more fully understand and practice the present invention. They should not be construed as a limitation upon the scope of the invention, but merely as being illustrative and representative thereof.

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Preparation of the Tripe~tide Asp-Pro-Arg 1.6 G. (5 mmoles) of t-Boc-nitroarginine are reacted with 10 g. of chloromethyl resin tbeaded copolystyrene-2 divinyl benzene containing 0.5-1 meq. of chloromethyl groups per gram of resin) in a mixture of 1.4 ml. (10 mmoles) of triethylamine and 100 ml. of ethanol for 24 hours at 22C. with constant stirring. The argininated resin is then washed thoroughly, successively, with acetic acid, absolute ethanol, water with increasing amounts of ethanol, then methanol and finally methylene chloride. The resin is then thoroughly dried in vacuo. Analysis revealed 0.05 mmole Arg/g. resin. 2,5 G. of the resin so prepared is placed in a Merrifield solid phase reaction vessel equipped for agitation and is put through the following DEPROTECTION CYCLE:
(a) with agitation, and at 22C., the t-Boc group is cleaved with 10 ml. of 4 N. HCl in dioxane for 30 minutes, (b) two washes with 10 ml. of dioxane, (c~ two washes with 10 ml. of methylene chloride, (d) two washes with 10 ml. of chloroform, ~e) the hydrochloride is neutralised with 10 ml. of triethylamine/chloroform (5:95), (f) t~o washes with 10 ml. of methylene chloride, (g) two washes with 10 ml. of chloroform, The resin is then subjected to the SYNTHESIS CYCLE as follows: a ten-fold excess of t-Boc-proline (1.25 mmoles) in methylene chloride solution is,added followed by 258 m~.
(1.25 mmoles) of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) and the mixture is shaken for 2 hours at 22C. The resin is then washed three times each with 10 ml. portions of dioxane, chloroform, and methylene chloride, respectively.
The dipeptide resin is then subjected to the deprotection cycle and is reacted with a four-fold excess to t-Boc ~-benzyl aspartate (0.5 mmoles) as described above in the synthesis cycle. An 0.5 g. portion of the resin is then removed from the reaction vessel and subjected to the CLEAVAGE PROCESS as follows:
The tripeptide resin (0.5 g.) is suspended in dry trifluoroacetic acid (5 ml.) and a slow stream of anhydrous HBr is bubbled through the solution for 90 minutes. The resin is filtered off and washed twice with 5 ml. of tri-fluoroacetic acid. The combined filtrates are concentrated in vacuo and excess HBr is removed from the peptide by repeated evaporations of methanol-water (1:1) solutions.
The peptide is finally dissolved in water and lyophilised ~;
yielding aspartyl-prolyl--nitroarginine. The nitro group ~ -is then removed by hydrogenation in a Parr low pressure shaker hydrogenation apparatus as follows: The nitro protected tripeptide is dissolved in a mixture of methanol-acetic acid-water (10:1:1)" about 10-20 mg./ml., and an equal weight of a 5% palladium on BaSO4 catalyst is added and the mixture is shaken overnight at a hydrogen pressure of about 50 psi. The catalyst is removed by filtration and the filtrates are concentrated in vacuo. The peptide residue is chromatographed on a column of Sephadex G-25*.
The yield of the purified tripeptide as established by con-ventional amino acid analysis is approximately 24~ based on the arginine incorporated in the resin. A portion of the product was hydrolysed with 5.7 N. HCl in water and assayed -* trade mark -21-,~ -. , ' ~ ~ : ' 10i37171 on an amino acid analyser, which indicated a ratio of Asp l.OS, Pro 0.95, Arg 1.00.
Purity was determined by paper electrophoresis in the standard manner at a ~umber of pH's.

~ ~ ' .

~0~717~

PreParation of the Tetrapeptide Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg The tripeptide resin from Example 1, not used in the synthesis of the tripeptide, was put through the deprotection cycle (see Example l) and then was allowed to react with 0.111 g. of t-Boc-O-benzyl serine and 0.13 g. of dicyclo-hexylcarbodiimide in 20 ml. of methylene chloride as , described~in the synthesis cycle (Example 1).
A portion of the resin was then subjected to the cleavage and hydrogenation processes as described in Example 1 and recovered in the same manner as in Example l yielding Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg in a 20% yield based o~ arginine esterified to the resin. After hydrolysis with HCl, a sample of the recovered tetrapeptide was assayed on the amino acid analyser, which indicated a ratio of Ser 0.79, Asp 1.18, Pro 1.02, and Arg l.01. (Serine is partly destroyed during the acid hydrolysis.) Purity was determined by paper electrophoresis in the standard manner at a number of pH's.

.

. . ' ' . . .; : . : ' ::
- , . . . .

. :: : . . .

, ' .

Preparation of the Pentapeptide Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg A. The uncleaved tetrapeptide resin from Example 2 was subjected to the deprotection cycle (Example 1) and the synthesis cycle using 0.152 g. of t-Boc-~-benzylaspartate.
The resin portion had the pentapeptide cleaved therefrom with HBr in trifluoroacetic acid in the same manner as noted previously. The recovered polypeptide was dried in vacuo, thoroughly washed with water and then lyophilised. An analysis revealed a 16% yield based upon the arginine.
The pentapeptide product was hydrolyzed with HCl and assayed on an amino acid analyser, which indicated a ratio of Asp 2.12, 5er 0.74, Pro 1.12, and Arg 1.01.
B. The pentapeptide is also prepared by-a modifica-tion of the procedures of Examples 1-3A:
- To a solution o~-3.02 g. (6.82 mmoles) of ~-t-amyloxycarbonyl-N -tosyl-L-arginine (t-Aoc-tosyl-Arg) in 15 ml. of ethanol and 6 ml. of water is added dropwise a solution of caesium bicarbonate (1.4 g. in 3 ml. H2O) until the pH of the solution is 7Ø The solution is concentrated in vacuo to a foam which is thoroughly dried in high vacuum - over P2O5. To this residue is added 25 ml.- of dry-dimethyl-formamide ~DMF) and 4.5 g. of chloromethylated resin (beaded cop~lystyrene-1~ divinyl benzene containing 1.10 meq. of chloro-methyl group/g. of resin) and the mixture is shaken at 50C. for 3 days. The resin is filtered and washed with DMF (5 x 20 ml.), 90% DMF/H2O (3 x 20 ml.), DMF (2 x 20 ml.) and EtOH (2 x 20 ml.) and is then dried in vacuo over P2O5 giving 5.54 g. of argininated resin (ca. 50% incorporation).

10~7~7~

This resin is then subjected to four cycles of deprotection and synthesis using 4 equivalents of the appropriate t-Boc-amino acid at each chain elongation step giving the protected pentapeptide resin material.
This resin material is then placed in an HF
resistant reaction vessel, 8 ml. of anisole is added and the vessel is attached to an HF line. Approximately 70 ml.
of HF is distilled into the reaction vessel at 0C. and the mixture is stirred for a further 30 minutes at 0C. The HF is pumped off and the resin is washed with ether (5 x 30 ml.) and then extracted with water (5 x 30 ml.).
The aqueous layer is lyophilised to a yellow glassy powder which is purified according to Example 1 thereby giving the -pentapeptide Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg.
The pentapeptide prepared above exhibits an [a]20 = -78.6 (c=l, H2O). Purity was determined by paper electrophoresis in the standard manner at a number of pH's.

, - . . . .
~, ~, -, . - . . . ..

, . .

10~37~71 : Preparation of the hexapeptide Ala-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg Another batch of arginated-resin (0.20 mmoles) was taken through the procedures of Examples 1-3A except that after the attachment of the second aspartic acid residue and deprotection an equivalent amount of t-BOC-alanine was coupled on with dicyclohexylcarbodiimide in the usual manner. -- ~
The resin was ~hen subjected to the cleavage and hydrogenation processes as described in Example 1 and j recovered in the same manner as in Example 1 yielding ; Ala-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg in a 0.026 mmole, or 13~,yield.
The recovered polypeptide was assayed on an amino acid analyser, whichindicated an amino acid ratio of Ala 0.95, Asp 2.05, Ser 0.80, Pro- 0.98, and Arg 1.00.
Purity was determined by paper electrophoresis in the standard manner at a number of p~'s.

. ~ .

, .
, ' ' ; -1~87171 . Utilizing similar synthesis procedures to those described in Examples 1-4 above, the following polypeptid~
may ~e prepared: . , .
Asp-Val-Asp-Leu-Ser Thr-Ala-Ser-Thr-G,lu Asp-val-Asp-Leu-3~-lrhr-Ai~- ~c-r-Thr-Glu Leu-Ser-Glu,-Ly,s-His Ala-Pro-Ser-Lys-Gly-Thr Ala-Ser-Gly- Lys-Pro .
Ala-Phe-Ala-Thr-Pro-Glu-Trp-Pro-Gly-Ser Ala-Phe-Ala-Thr-Pro Glu-Trp-Pro-Gly-Ser Pro-Asp-Ala-Arg-His-Ser Ala-Ser-Pro-Ser-Glu Asp-Thr-Glu-Ala-Arg , - , : . - :. -, - .
., , . - . .. ~ . . . : . . : . -, , . ,. . ~ ,, ,. .. ,, ~,, .. . . . , ~.
:-- ':' . ~ : - . -..

1~87171 Preparation of Metallic and Amine ~alts _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _A ___ _ ___ _ _ _ .
A. The pentapeptide Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg is converted to its sodium salt as follows:
A solution of the pentapeptide (0.05 mmoles) in water is carefully treated with exactly 1 equivalent of 0.1 N. NaOH
and the monosodium salt of the peptide is isolated by lyo-philisation. By the use of exactly 2 or 3 e~uivalents of 0.1 N. NaOH the corresponding di- and trisodium salts are obtained respectively.
Similarly, this peptide may be converted to other metallic salts, e.g., potassium, lithium, calcium, barium, magnesium, ammonium, ferrous, ferric, zinc, manganous, man-ganic, and aluminum salts, by substitution of the appro-priate base.
B. The pentapeptide Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg is converted to its triethylamine salt as follows:
The careful addition of 1, 2 or 3 equivalents of triethylamine to the solution of the peptide in methanol, 20 ~ -followed-by careful evaporatiQn-of the-solvent, yields the mono-, bis- and tris-triethylammonium salts respectively.
Similarly this pentapept-i-de--may be-converted to other ----- ----- amine salts, e.g., trimethylamine, tri(n-propyl)amine, -. dicyclohexylamine, ~-tdimethylamino)ethanol, ~-(diethyl- _- -amino)ethanol, triethanolamine, tris(hydroxymethyl)amino-met~ane,arginine, lysine, histidine, N-ethylpiperidine, hydrabamine, choline, betaine, ethylenediamine, glucosamine, methylglucamine, theobromine, purine, piperazine, piperidine, caffeine and procaine salts, by substitution of the appro-priate amine.
C. ID a similar manner, the other peptides of Examples 1, ` 1087171 . ' .
-: 2, 4 and 5 may be converted to their corresponding metallic and amine salts.

. . , , . . . . . . . . .

., ., . . . .: . . . : . . :

,, ~

1t)~37171 The pentapeptide Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg is converted to its hydrochloride acid addition salt as follows:
Careful neutralisation of a solution of the peptide in either water or methanol with exactly 1 or 2 equivalents of hydrochloric acid gives the mono- and dihydrochloride salts respectively. The salts are isolated either by lyophilisation of an aqueous solution or by precipitation with ether from a methanolic solution.
Similarly, this peptide may be converted to other acid addition salts, e.g., the hydrobromide, sulfate, phosphate, nitrate, acetate, oxalate, tartrate, succinate, maleate, fumarate, gluconate, citrate,malate, ascorbate, and benzoate salts, by substituting the appropriate acid for hydrogen chloride.
In a similar manner~ the other peptides of Examples 1, 2, 4 and 5 may be converted to their corresponding acid addition salts.

.
'. ' ' , - ' ' , Preparation of Esters A. The appropriate peptide resin from Example 5 (1.0 g.) is suspended in anhydrous methanol (40 ml./g. of resin), triethylamine (50 mmoles) is added and the mixture ; is stirred at 22C. for 20 hours, The resin is removed by filtration and the combined filtrates are concentrated in vacuo. The residue is dissolved in ethyl acetate, saturated with hydrogen chloride (5 ml.) and the solution is stirred at 22C. for 30 minutes. The product is pre-cipitated by the addition of ether giving a hydrochloride salt of the peptide. The O-benzyl ether protecting groups of Ser or Thr are removed by hydrogenolysis using Pd/BaSO4 as described in Example 1 for the removal of the nitro -15 group in-nitroarginine derivatives, thereby giving :: -Ala-Pro-Ser-Lys-Gly-Thr-OMe, ` Ala-Ser-Gly-Lys-Pro-OMe, ~ - -Ala-Phe-Ala-Thr-Pro-OMe - - -- - respecti~ely.
By substituting other alcohols for methanol and raising the reaction t~per~ture to 45-~0~C.-*nd.the-~
reaction time to 45-90-hours-~here-are-~btained--the--~
corresponding ethyl, propyl, butylr.hexyl, ~ctyl-~ decyl and dodecyl esters.
B. In this procedure a different type of anchoring ~ond is used for the attachment of the arginine residue, namely the resin-0-CH2-CH2-C(CH3)2-OCONHNH2 bond described by S. Wang and R.B. Merrifield in J. Amer Chem. Soc. 91, 6488 (1969J. Also, in this procedure N-2-(p-biphenylyl)-isopropyloxycarbonyl (~poc) protecting groups are used , .

108717~

instead of t-Boc for -amino protectlon since the Bpoc group can be removed at each cycle of the synthesis with very mild acid under conditions where the anchoring bond is stable. The Bpoc-N~-nitro-Arg is attached to the resin by the DCC method and the synthesis is carried out essentially as described in Examples 1-3 except that 1~ trifluoro-- acetic acid (TFA) /CH2C12 is used in the deprotection - cycle in order to cIeave the Bpoc group. The ultimate amino acid incorporated is protected as a Na-benzyloxy-carbonyl derivative (Z) so that the N-terminus remains protected during the cleavage of the protected peptide from the resin. The cleavage is done as follows: 500 mg.
of the peptide resin is suspended in 12 ml. of 50% TFA in CH2C12 and the mixture is shaken at room temperature for 30 minutes. The resin is removed by filtration, washed-with CH2C12 (2 x 10 ml.) and the combined filtrates are concentrated in vacuo giving Z-~-benzyl-Asp-O-benzyl-Ser-~-benzyl-Asp-Pro-N -nitro-Arg-NHNH2 as a white powder.
- -- - A soluti-on-~-f--the-protected--peptide--hydrazide--~
(0.2 mmoles) in DMF (1 ml.) is cooled to -20C. and 3.35 N.
HCl in dioxane ~0.5 mmoles) is added. The bath is warmed to -15C. and t-butylnitrite (0.03 ml.) is added and the mixture is left at -10C. for lO minutes giving the peptide-azide derivative. An excess of methanol is then added at -15C. followed by ethyl diisopropylamine (0.5 mmoles) and the mixture is kept at 0C. for 24 hours. During the first 6 hours, 5 ~1. of the base are added every hour. The protected peptide is then precipitated by pouring the mixture into ice cold 1% acetic acid (15 ml.) and the precipitate is collected and washed by filtràtion. The benzyl based protecting groups are then removed by hydro-genolysis, as described in Example 1, and the product is purified by partition chromatography on*Sephadex G-25 or by countercurrent distribution gi~ing Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg-OMe.
By replacing methanol''in this'procedure by other alcohols there are obtained the corresponding ethyl, propyl, butyl, hexyl, octyl, decyl and dodecyl esters.
C. Utilizing similar procedures to those described in A and B, the corresponding esters of the polypeptides of Examples 1, 2, 4 and 5 may be prepared.

., .:
';
, .,, ~' . , ' ' `
., ' ' ' ' ~
' ' ' '~
..

.

Preparation of Amides A. The products of Example 8A and 8B are treated with a saturated solution of ammonia in methanol at room ; 5 temperature for 2 days. The solvent is removed in vacuo to afford Ala-Pro-Ser-Lys-Gly-Thr-NH2, Ala-Ser-Gly-I-ys-Pro-NH2, Ala-Phe-Ala-Thr-Pro-NH2, and Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg-NH2, respectively.
B. ~he peptide-azide of Example 8B is reacted with ammonia in DMF solution under the conditions described in Example 8B for reaction with methanol. The protected . : -peptide-amide-ls isolated and deprotected as described ...
earlier giving Asp~Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg-NH2.
. C. The protected peptide.resin_product_~f~Example 3A__ is suspended in.a saturated solution of ammonia in methanol ;.......... .... ...and .the mixture is agi-.ta-ted~at.~oo~;temperatu~e_or.~2_days.
The resin is removed by filtration, washed with methanol _._ _ _=. and the combined filtrates-are concentrated i~-vacuo ..
- giving t-Boc-Asn-O-benzy~-Ser-Asn-Pro-N~-nitro-Arg-NH2. - -~
. The t-Boc-group:and::the.;.'~.~-nitro group are then.remQved by--~
' acidic hydrolysis and hydrogenolysis respectively, as des'cribed above, giving Asn-Ser-Asn-Pro-Arg-NH2.
By replacing ammonia with other amines, using DMF as solvent where appropriate and increasing the reaction temperature and time as necessary, there are obtained, for example, the corresponding dimethyl, diethyl, 3Q di(n-butyl), n-hexyl, piperidyl, pyrrolidinyl, morpholinyl, 1~7171 ditn-hexyl) and N-methylpiperazinyl amides.
D. Utilizing similar procedures to those described in A, B and C, the corresponding amides of the other poly-peptides of Examples 1, 2,4 and 5 may be prepared.

.. . . . ~ : -, . ~: ' ' ~ - ' .: - , . .

,~` "' ~.

1~87171 Preparation of N-acyl derivatives .
N -Acyl derivatives of Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg are prepared by replacing the terminal t-Boc-amino acid (t-Boc-~-benzyl-S aspartate) with the appropriate Na-acyl amino acid (e.g.
Na-acetyl-~-benzylaspartate). All other steps in the deprotection, synthesis and cleavage cycles remain the same.
Thus~ there may be prepared Na-Acetyl-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg Na-Butryl-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg Na-Hexanoyl-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg Na-Octanoyl-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg Na-Decanoyl-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg N -Dodecanoyl-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg Similarly, the corresponding Na-acyl derivatives of other peptides mentioned in Examples 1, 2, 4 and 5 may be prepared.

7ln . .
Preparation of O-Acyl Derivatives In order to prepare the protected pentapeptide resin material in which the hydroxyl group of serine is unpro-tected, the following modification of the solid phase synthesis method is used.
The tripeptide resin material from Example 1 is sub-jected to the deprotection cycle and is then allowed to react with t-Boc-serine-N-hydroxysuccinimide ester giving t-Boc-Ser-~-benzyl-Asp-Pro-N~-nitro-Arg-resin which is then deprotected and coupled with a p-nitrophenyl t-Boc-~-benzyl-aspartate under standard conditions, thereby giving t-Boc-~-benzyl-Asp-Ser-~-benzyl-Asp-Pro-N~-nitro-Arg-resin.
0.5 Mmoles of this protected peptide resin material is washed thoroughly with CHC13 and CH2C12 and 1.5 mmoles of hexanoic acid dissolved in 1:1 DMF/CHC13 is added followed by 1.5 mmoles of carbonyl diimidazole dissolved -in the same solvents. The mixture is rocked in the Merrifield reaction vessel at room temperature for 2 hours and the peptide is then cleaved from the resin as described earlier. The N~-nitro group is removed hydrogenolytically and the peptide is purified as described in earlier examples giving Asp-O-hexanoyl-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg.
By replacing hexanoic acid with acetic acid, butyric acid, octanoic acid, decanoic acid and dodecanoic acid, the corresponding O-acetyl, butyryl, octanoyl, decanoyl and dodecanoyl compounds may be prepared.
Similarly, the corresponding O-acyl derivatives of the other peptides having side chain hydroxyl groups, mentioned in Examples 2, 4 and 5 may be prepared.

lOB71~1 .
The following illustrates typical pharmaceutical compositions of the compounds hereof, exemplified by Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg:
.

Aerosol Formulation (per dose) Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg 10 mg.
Sodium chloride 8 mg.
Water to make 1.0 ml.

Injec_able Formulation (per dose?
Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg 10 mg.
Sodium chloride 8 mg.
Methylparaben 0.25 mg.
- Propylparaben 0.14 mg.
Water to make 1.0 ml.

Dry Powder Formulation for Inhalation with device such as Spinhale ~ (per dose) Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg 10 mg.
Lactose 30 mg.

, .

1087~71 The "blocking" activity,of the polypeptides of the invention can be assayed by utilization of the classic Prausnitz-Kustner (P-K) reaction. In this classic method, a known allergic serum i.e., one that contains IgE specific for a known antigen or allergen is injected intradermally into a human volunteer. After waiting a period of time, e.g. 20 or more hours, the injected sites are then challenged with a prick or injection of a solution of an antigen that is specific for the IgE in the injected serum. Within the next 10 to 30 minutes a positive reaction is evidenced by the development of a wheal (and flare) at the injected site. The more extensive the diameter of the wheal the more intensive is the allergic reaction. That is, a more extensive wheal indicates a greater r-elease of histamine-into the tissues at the injected site.---Conversely, the development of wheals of lesser diameter or the absence of any wheal at all indicates diminished allergic reaction -, ,,,and/or no al-lerg-ic--reaction-at all-.-~-The-~-P-K-r,eaction as --- _ -noted above is a classic test and is universally known and utilized by allergists.
As noted above, the classic P-~-reaction is utilized - --to assay--the "blocking" abil-i~ties-of the--polypept~des - ---- ----~ =----utiliz,ed in the present invention.
~he following describes assays of a number of poly-peptides useful in the present invention, the synthesis of which was described hereinabove.
All of these assays were performed using a single proven safe P-K donor serum that contains IgE specific for guinea pig allergens.

: ~ , 10~7171 Peptide solutions were either injected intradermally 1 to 24 hours prior to the P-K serum, or mixed with dilutions of the P-K serum for simultaneous injection.
Initial tests were performed using the P-K serum at from 1:4 to 1:200 dilutions. Further studies were run at a fixed P-K dilution of 1:32 while the invention peptide solutions were varied to contain from about 1 mM to 2 M of the peptide being tested. Injected sites on the volunteers were chal-lepged by prick-puncture of guinea pig BCA 1:40w/v (pur-chased from Berkeley Biologicals, Inc.).
Human volunteers were chosen who had serum IgE levels below 100 U/ml (242ng/ml) which levels have been previously shown to assure successful P-K reàctivity. In addition, for the purpose of these tests, the individuals were chosen who had a negative direct skin test to guinea ~ig antigen. P-K and skin tests were performed on the back and/or forearm. Multiple test sites of approximately 25 mm diameter were circled with a marking pen and all injections were made within the circled skin areas.
A typical sequence of events was intradermal injection - of 0.1 ml of the peptide solution or control buffered saline diluent solution; followed in 1 to 24 hours by - -intradermal injection of-~0.05 ml.-of P-X-serum into each -of the previously injected sites. After 20 to 24 hours had elapsed, each site was prick-punctured with the antigen solution, blotted dry in 5 minutes and measurements of the wheal and flare in both their narrowest and widest diameter were made three times, usually 15, 20 and 25 minutes after prick-punctures.
Blocking activity assays were undertaken with the .

10~7171 following polypeptides: Asp-Pro-Arg; Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg;
Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg; and Ala-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg. For comparison testing, Asp-Thr-Glu-Ala-Arg and tosyl-L-arginine - sarcosine methylester (TASME), were also synthesized and tested.
The above-noted polypeptides were assayed as noted above on six different individuals. Results were as follows:
For Asp-Pro-Arg, the average ~ inhibition was 15%, with an individual range from as low as 0~ to as high as 38%.
For Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg, the average inhibition was 18~, with an individual low of 0% and a high of 50~.
For Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg, the average inhibition was 72%, with an individual low of 60%, and a high of 89%.
For Ala-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg, the average inhibition was 46%, with an individual low of 10%, and a high of 61%.
For Asp-Thr-Glu-Ala-Arg~ the average inhibition was 58%, with an individual low of 30%, and a high of 80%.
For TASME, the average inhibition was 24%, with a low of 0% and a high of 40%.
The results, as noted above, present the average of - measurements at three tLme intervals, in duplicate, for each reaction in each individual, subtracted from the -- - _ average control wheal measurements, and divided by the - ~~ ~
- - a~erage measurement of each individual's control wheal.
- -25 Control wheaIs in different individuals varied from 8 to 40 mm2 with a mean of 17 mm2. Each peptide was utilized at approximately 6 ~g/ml dilution and 0.1 ml. was injected at each site, followed ~y 0.05 ml. of diluted P-K serum containing 0.2 ng. of IgE. Thus 10 M of the peptide was competing with 10 M of the IgE for the binding sites . .

.

10~7171 on mast cells, or a ratio of one IgE molecule to 10 pep-tide molecules. From the above assays, it appears that the pentapeptide, i.e., Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg, exhibits the strongest "blocking" activity, with the hexapeptide, i.e., Ala-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg, exhibiting somewhat less activity.
The tetrapeptide, Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg and the tripeotide A`sp-Pro-Arg, exhibited the least activity.
It should be noted that the pentapeptide Asp-T~r-Glu-Ala-Arg was prepared and assayed along with the other peptides as described above. This particular polypeptide does not have an analogous sequence of amino acids appearing in the C~2, C~3 or C~4 domains of the IgE molecule, yet it exhibits a high activity in the assay test.

,,, `~

' ' :

10~7~71 . It has also been determined that the active poly-peptides of the invention appear to have the ability to Ndisplace" IgE from mast cell sites as well as to prevent the binding of IgE to these sites. .In a single test, an individual known to have extreme sensitivity to guinea pig . antigens, that is a person with a high natural concentra-. ..tion of guinea-pig-antigen-sensitive IgE, was injected with polypeptides in accordance with the invention, and his reaction to guinea pig antigen was not.ed.
Specifically, approximately 2nM each of Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg and Ala-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg were each intrader-mally injected into 3 marked sites. For~comparison, TASME, as well as a control of the buffer diluent alone, was also - - -15 . each injected -into 3-marked--sit;es. -At one, five and ' - twenty-four hours subsequent to the-polypeptide and control --- - injection, one of each peptide and.. Qne_diluent site were .
prick-puncture challenged with guinea pig antigen. No - - :: ... ~inh-ibition of the wheal and--f.lare reaction was--observed~
at any site at the one and five hour intervals. However, at the twenty-four hour challenge, the wheal at the Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg site was approximately 45% smaller; while at the Ala-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg site,~the-whealwas--approxi- - ~-. ..... mately 23% smaller. No reduction in the size of the wheal was.observed at the TASME site compared to the buffered saline diluent site.
It thus appears that, at least the most active of the ' peptides of the invention, will "displace" IgE already bound to mast cell sites, thus.inhibiting a natual allergic reaction. As has previously been demonstrated in Example 13 -- . , .

':

this same pentapeptide is extremely effective in inhibiting apassively transferred (P-K) allergic reaction.

' .. . .. ~ .
- . ' ~ ' , ~. .
:- . .

:, Acute toxicity was determined as follows:
DEA white mice (average weight 15 g.) were each injected with 1.4 ml. of a solution of the peptide in phosphate buffered saline, pH 7.4, as follows:
O.1 ml. x 3 intradermally 0.1 ml. x 3 subcutaneously 0.2 ml. intravenously 0.6 ml. intraperitoneally 24 to 72 hours post-injection the mice ~all still living) were killed and autopsied.
The peptides and concentrations used were as follows:
Ala-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg ~Example 4) 5 ~g/ml (375 mg/kg)- 6 mice Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg ~Example 3) lO ~g~ml (1 mg/kg) - 8 mice Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg (Example 3) 13 ~g/ml (1.3 mg/kg)- 8 mice Post-mortem gross and microscopic examination of , tissues and organs indicated no local or systemic toxico-I logical abnormalities.

.. . .
: . . .. ~ . . ..
- . :
:, . . : . -... ..

:
. : ~ , ~ : ... -. : - ~ - .: . .:, .-. ~ -.
:: : .: ~ :
'' ' ~ ' ~ ~ ,' ' ' . :
: : . : . :. - .
- : :

Claims (46)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A method for the preparation of a polypeptide comprising from 3 to 10 amino acids in sequence, said sequence selected from a portion of the amino acid sequence 265-537 of the Fc region of Immunoglobulin E, or a pharmaceutically acceptable, non-toxic salt, ester, amide, N-acyl or O-acyl derivative thereof, which method comprises:
(a) condensing a first amino acid or peptide which may optionally be covalently bound to a solid support and/or have a protected carboxyl or amino group with a second amino acid or peptide, optionally having a protected carboxyl or amino group, the total number of and kind of amino acid residues in said first and second amino acids and/
or peptides being predetermined by the desired final poly-peptide, the condensation reaction providing a sequence of amino acid residues as predetermined by such sequence in the desired final polypeptide, (b) sequentially or concurrently cleaving any protecting groups and/or solid support from the product of step (a), (c) optionally converting the product of step (a) or (b) to a salt, (d) optionally converting the product of step (a) or (b) to an ester, or (e) optionally converting the product of step (a) or (b) to an amide, (f) optionally converting the product of step (a) or (b) to an N-acyl derivative, or (g) optionally converting the product of step (a) or (b) to an O-acyl derivative.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) sequentially or concurrently removes a carboxy and/or amino protecting group and/or a covalently bound solid support from a protected polypeptide.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said protecting group is an amino protecting group selected from the group consisting of acyl, aromatic urethan, aliphatic urethan, cycloalkyl urethan, thio urethan, aralkyl and trialkylsilyl; or a carboxyl protec-ting group selected from the group consisting of substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic esters, aralkyl ester, N-substituted hydrazides and amides.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein said covalently bound solid support is selected from the group consisting of cross-linked polystyrene-divinyl resins, crosslinked polyamide resins, polyethyleneglycol resins and functionalized glass beads.

5. The method of claim 1 for the preparation of a polypeptide comrpising from 3 to 10 amino acids in sequence, said sequence selected from a portion of the amino acid sequence 265-357 of the Fc region of Immunoglobulin E, which further comprises converting a salt, ester, amide, N-acyl or O-acyl derivative of said polypeptide to the free polypeptide.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a pentapeptide of the polypeptides is prepared.

7. The method of claim 6 for preparing the pentapeptide Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof wherein five amino acid residues of said first and second amino acids and/or peptides are provided in the sequence Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg by said condensation reaction.

8. The method of claim 6 for preparing the pentapeptide Ala-Phe-Ala-Thr-Pro and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl or O-acyl derivatives thereof wherein five amino acid residues of said first and second amino acids and/or peptides are provided in the sequence Ala-Phe-Ala-Thr-Pro by said condensation reaction.

9. The method of claim 6 for preparing the pentapeptide Ala-Ser-Gly-Lys-Pro and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof wherein five amino acid residues of said first and second amino acids and/or peptides are provided in the sequence Ala-Ser-Gly-Lys-Pro by said condensation reaction.

10. The method of claim 6 for preparing the pentapeptide Leu-Ser-Gln-Lys-His and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof wherein five amino acid residues of said first and second amino acids and/or peptides are provided in the sequence Leu-Ser-Gln-Lys-His by said condensation reaction.

11. The method of claim 6 for preparing the pentapeptide Thr-Ala-Ser-Thr-Glu and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof wherein five amino acid residues of said first and second amino acids and/or peptides are provided in the sequence Thr-Ala-Ser-Thr-Glu by said condensation reaction.

12. The method of claim 6 for preparing the pentapeptide Asp-Val-Asp-Leu-Ser and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof wherein five amino acid residues of said first and second amino acids and/or peptides are provided in the sequence Asp-Val-Asp-Leu-Ser by said condensation reaction.

13. The method of claim 6 for preparing the pentapeptide Glu-Trp-Pro-Gly-Ser and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof wherein five amino acid residues of said first and second amino acids and/or peptides are provided in the sequence Glu-Trp-Pro-Gly-Ser by said condensation reaction.

14. The method of claim 6 for preparing the pentapeptide Ala-Ser-Pro-Ser-Gln and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof wherein five amino acid residues of said first and second amino acids and/or peptides are provided in the sequence Ala-Ser-Pro-Ser-Gln by said condensation.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein a hexapeptide of the polypeptides is prepared.

16. The method of claim 15 for preparing the hexapeptide Ala-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof wherein six amino acid residues of said first and second amino acids and/or peptides are provided in the sequence Ala-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg by said condensation.

17. The method of claim 15 for preparing the hexapeptide Ala-Pro-Ser-Lys-Gly-Thr and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof wherein six amino acid residues of said first and second amino acids and/or peptides are provided in the sequence Ala-Pro-Ser-Lys-Gly-Thr by said condensation.

18. The method of claim 15 for preparing the hexapeptide Pro-Asp-Ala-Arg-His-Ser and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof wherein six amino acid residues of said first and second amino acids and/or peptides are provided in the sequence Pro-Asp-Ala-Arg-His-Ser by said condensation.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein a decapeptide of the polypeptides is prepared.

20. The method of claim 19 for preparing the decapeptide Asp-Val-Asp-Leu-Ser-Thr-Ala-Ser-Thr-Glu and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof wherein ten amino acid residues of said first and second amino acids and/or peptides are provided in the sequence Asp-Val-Asp-Leu-Ser-Thr-Ala-Ser-Thr-Glu by said condensation.

21. The method of claim 19 for preparing the decapeptide Ala-Phe-Ala-Thr-Pro-Glu-Trp-Pro-Gly-Ser and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof wherein ten amino acid residues of said first and second amino acids and/or peptides are provided in the sequence Ala-Phe-Ala-Thr-Pro-Glu-Trp-Pro-Gly-Ser by said condensation.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein a tetrapeptide of the polypeptides is prepared.

23. The method of claim 22 for preparing the tetrapeptide Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof wherein four amino acid residues of said first and second amino acids and/or peptides are proviced in the sequence Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg by said condensation.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein a tripeptide of the polypeptides is prepared.

25. The method of claim 24 for preparing the tripeptide Asp-Pro-Arg and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof wherein three amino acid residues of saif first and second amino acids and/or peptides are provided in the sequence Asp-Pro-Arg by said condensation.

26. A biologically active polypeptide useful in blocking, inhibiting and preventing allergic reactions comprising from three to ten amino acids in sequence, said sequence selected from a portion of the amino acid sequence 265-537 of the Fc region of Immunoglobulin E; and the pharmaceutically acceptable non-toxic salts, esters, amides, N-acyl and O-acyl derivatives thereof when prepared by the process of claim 1.

27. The polypeptide of claim 26 which is a pentapeptide when prepared by the process of claim 6.

28. The pentapeptide of claim 26 which has the amino acid sequence Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg when prepared by the process of claim 7.

29. The pentapeptide of claim 26 which has the amino acid sequence Ala-Phe-Ala-Thr-Pro when prepared by the process of claim 8.

30. The pentapeptide of claim 26 which has the amino acid sequence Ala-Ser-Gly-Lys-Pro when prepared by the process of claim 9.

31. The pentapeptide of claim 26 which has the amino acid sequence Leu-Ser-Gln-Lys-His when prepared by the process of claim 10.

32. The pentapeptide of claim 26 which has the amino acid sequence Thr-Ala-Ser-Thr-Glu when prepared by the process of claim 11.

33. The pentapeptide of claim 26 which has the amino acid sequence Asp-Val-Asp-Leu-Ser when prepared by the process of claim 12.

34. The pentapeptide of claim 26 which has the amino acid sequence Glu-Trp-Pro-Gly-Ser when prepared by the process of claim 13.

35. The pentapeptide of claim 26 which has the amino acid sequence Ala-Ser-Pro-Ser-Gln when prepared by the process of claim 14.

36. The polypeptide of claim 26 which is a hexapeptide when prepared by the process of claim 15.

37. The hexapeptide of claim 26 which has the amino acid sequence Ala-Asp-Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg when prepared by the process of claim 16.

38. The hexapeptide of claim 26 which has the amino acid sequence Ala-Pro-Ser-Lys-Gly-Thr when prepared by the process of claim 17.

39. The hexapeptide of claim 26 which has the amino acid sequence Pro-Asp-Ala-Arg-His-Ser when prepared by the process of claim 18.

40. The polypeptide of claim 26 which is a decapeptide when prepared by the process of claim 19.

41. The decapeptide of claim 26 which has the amino acid sequence Asp-Val-Asp-Leu-Ser-Thr-Ala-Ser-Thr-Glu when prepared by the process of claim 20.

42. The decapeptide of claim 26 which has the amino acid sequence Ala-Phe-Ala-Thr-Pro-Glu-Trp-Pro-Gly-Ser when prepared by the process of claim 21.

43. The polypeptide of claim 26 which is a tetrapeptide when prepared by the process of claim 22.

44. The tetrapeptide of claim 26 which has the amino acid sequence Ser-Asp-Pro-Arg when prepared by the process of claim 23.

45. The polypeptide of claim 26 which is a tripeptide when prepared by the process of claim 24.

46. The tripeptide of claim 26 which has the amino acid sequence Asp-Pro-Arg when prepared by the process of claim 25.