[12-Homoarginine]glucagon: synthesis and observations on conformation, biological activity, and copper-mediated peptide cleavage

Specific modification of the single lysine residue (Lys-12) in glucagon with O-methylisourea has been effected by blocking the reactivity of the amino terminal histidine with copper, providing a method for obtaining [12-homoarginine]glucagon. It was found that as a side reaction, under the conditions of the modification reaction, Cu(II) catalyzed cleavage of the polypeptide chain between Asp-9 and Tyr-10, and between Lys-12 and Tyr-13. This observation may be of value for development of a sequence-specific peptide cleavage procedure. The dilute solution conformations of glucagon and [12-homoarginine]-glucagon were compared by circular dichroism, fluorescence, phosphorescence, energy transfer, and optical detection of magnetic resonance. The results indicate that conversion of Lys-12 to homoarginine does not alter the helix content, the side chain conformation in the vicinity of the tyrosine and tryptophan residues, or the relative distances and orientations between these residues. However, the modification reduces the hormone potency towards activation of lipolysis in isolated rat epididymal fat cells by a factor of seven. We attribute the loss of potency to an interference with a specific interaction between the lysine residue and the fat cell hormone receptor, and not to a change in the solution conformation of the hormone.