Eledoisin is an undecapeptide of

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

origin, belonging to the

tachykinin Tachykinin peptides are one of the largest families of neuropeptides, found from amphibians to mammals. They were so named due to their ability to rapidly induce contraction of gut tissue. The tachykinin family is characterized by a common C-termi ...

family of

neuropeptides Neuropeptides are chemical messengers made up of small chains of amino acids that are synthesized and released by neurons. Neuropeptides typically bind to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to modulate neural activity and other tissues like the ...

. It was first isolated from the posterior

salivary gland The salivary glands in many vertebrates including mammals are exocrine glands that produce saliva through a system of ducts. Humans have three paired major salivary glands ( parotid, submandibular, and sublingual), as well as hundreds of min ...

s of two mollusk species '' Eledone muschata'' and ''Eledone aldovandi'', which belong to the

octopod An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like other ...

order of

Cephalopoda A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda ( Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, ...

.De Marco, A., and G. Gatti, "1H- and 13C-NMR spectra of eledoisin and intermediate oligopeptides." ''Int. J. Pep. Pro. Res.'' 7:437–444, 1975. Other tachykinins from nonmammalian sources include kassinin and physalaemin. The mammalian tachykinins

substance P Substance P (SP) is an undecapeptide (a peptide composed of a chain of 11 amino acid residues) and a type of neuropeptide, belonging to the tachykinin family of neuropeptides. It acts as a neurotransmitter and a neuromodulator. Substance P ...

, NKA, and NKB have similar effects as tachykinins of nonmammals and have been more widely studied and characterized. These peptides exhibit a wide and complex spectrum of pharmacological and physiological activities such as

vasodilation Vasodilation, also known as vasorelaxation, is the widening of blood vessels. It results from relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, in particular in the large veins, large arteries, and smaller arterioles. Blood vessel wa ...

hypertension Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a Chronic condition, long-term Disease, medical condition in which the blood pressure in the artery, arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms i ...

, and stimulation of extravascular

smooth muscle Smooth muscle is one of the three major types of vertebrate muscle tissue, the others being skeletal and cardiac muscle. It can also be found in invertebrates and is controlled by the autonomic nervous system. It is non- striated, so-called bec ...

.R. Christy Rani Grace, Indu R. Chandrashekar and Sudha M. Cowsik
"Solution Structure of the Tachykinin Peptide Eledoisin"
, ''Biophysical Journal'' 84:655-664 (2003), retrieved 05 Dec 2007. This publication has excellent general information on the eledoisin molecule. Eledoisin has the

amino acid sequence Protein primary structure is the linear sequence of amino acids in a peptide or protein. By convention, the primary structure of a protein is reported starting from the amino-terminal (N) end to the carboxyl-terminal (C) end. Protein biosynthe ...

pGlu-Pro-Ser-Lys-Asp-Ala-Phe-Ile-Gly-Leu-Met-NH2 (qPSKDAFIGLM-NH2) where pGlu and q stand for pyroglutamic acid. Like all tachykinin peptides, Eledoisin shares the same consensus C-terminal sequence, that is, Phe-Xxx-Gly-Leu-Met-NH. The invariant "Phe7" residue is probably required for receptor binding. "Xxx" is either an aromatic (phenylalanine, tyrosine) or a branched aliphatic (valine, isoleucine) side chain and is thought to be important in receptor selectivity. This common region, often referred to as the "message domain," is believed to be responsible for activating the receptor. The divergent N-terminal region or the "address domain" varies in amino-acid sequence and length and is believed to play a role in determining the receptor subtype specificity.Schwyzer, R., "Membrane-assisted molecular mechanism of neurokinin receptor subtype selection." ''EMBO J.'' 6:2255–2259, 1987

References

{{Tachykinins Marine neurotoxins Neuropeptides Neurotransmitters Octopus toxins Hendecapeptides