CHOLECYSTOKININ (PANCREOZYMIN)

The acetyl-derivative of the biologically active C-terminal 7-peptide portion of cholecystokinin (CCK), N-acetyl-O-sulfate-L-tyrosyl-L-methionyl-glycyl-L-tryptophyl-L-methionyl-L-aspanyl-L-phenylalanine amide was prepared by the condensation of 2-peptide segments with 1-isobutyloxycarbonyl-2-isobutyloxy-1,2-dihydroquinoline as coupling reagent. The N-terminal residue, tyrosine, was incorporated by the active ester method. The same 7-peptide was prepared also by stepwise chain-lengthening, starting with the C-terminal residue. The 9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl group was applied for the protection of α-amino functions. In the release of amylase from acinar cells of the pancreas of guinea pigs, the acetyl-7-peptide amide was about 3 times more potent than CCK 27–33 and equal in potency to CCK 26–33. The new derivative strongly stimulated the contraction of the in situ guinea pig gall bladder.     

Non-Tropical Pyomyositis in Children–with Report of Severe Neurological Complications

ABSTRACT. Pyomyositis appears to occur rarely in temperate climate areas, compared with the incidence of the disease in the tropics. Three young adults with pyomyositis have previously been described in Israel, two of them were newly arrived Ethiopian immigrants. We report three Israeli children with pyomyositis, who presented initially with nonspecific abdominal pain; in one child the course was complicated by spinal cord compression due to extension of the infected mass into the spinal canal. All three patients attained full recovery after antibiotic therapy and surgical drainage. Computed tomography was most valuable in establishing the diagnosis and defining the extent of the process.     

Multiple continuous-flow solid-phase peptide synthesis Synthesis of an HIV antigenic peptide and its omission analogues

Multiple continuous-flow solid-phase peptide synthesis was performed on a standard polystyrene-based resin under low-pressure conditions using a simple manually operated synthesizer. Stable-flow resin-packed columns were prepared in small polypropylene flow reactors, adjustable for volume. The concurrent synthesis of 10 peptides was carried out in flow reactors concatenated together; solvents and reactants were passed through this set of columns using moderate overpressure. One decapeptide, H-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Asp-Ser-Arg-Asn-Pro-Leu-NH₂, containing an antigenic determinant of the p31 protein product of the pol gene of the human immunodeficiency virus, and its nine omission analogues were synthesized.