RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Transport and metabolism of delta sleep-inducing peptide in cultured human intestinal epithelial cell monolayers. JF Drug Metabolism and Disposition JO Drug Metab Dispos FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics SP 1372 OP 1378 VO 23 IS 12 A1 P F Augustijns A1 R T Borchardt YR 1995 UL http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/23/12/1372.abstract AB A cultured human intestinal epithelial (Caco-2) cell monolayer was used to study the transport and metabolism of delta sleep-inducing peptide [DSIP (Trp-Ala-Gly-Gly-Asp-Ala-Ser-Gly-Glu)]. DSIP is of interest because it has been reported to be capable of permeating biological barriers (e.g. blood-brain barrier), and this property has been related to its solution conformation. When applied to the apical (AP) side of Caco-2 cell monolayers, DSIP was rapidly metabolized (8.2 +/- 1.1% remaining after a 2-hr incubation), affording Trp as the major metabolite and Trp-Ala as a minor metabolite. When DSIP was added to the basolateral (BL) side of the monolayer, the same metabolites were detected, but the peptide was more stable (70.6 +/- 3.0% remaining after a 2-hr incubation). Inclusion of bestatin, an inhibitor of aminopeptidases, at concentrations up to 0.29 mM with DSIP on the AP side of the Caco-2 cell monolayer increased the stability of the peptide only slightly but dramatically altered the distribution of the metabolites (Trp-Ala became the major metabolite, and Trp became the minor metabolite). Inclusion of other aminopeptidase inhibitors (e.g. amastatin, puromycin) alone, dipeptidylpeptidase IV inhibitors (e.g. diprotin A, Gly-Pro) alone, inhibitors of proteases that require heavy metals for proper activity (e.g. EDTA, 1,10-phenanthroline) alone, or cysteine protease inhibitors (e.g. leupeptin) alone did not lead to significant stabilization of the peptide. However, inclusion of a combination of 0.29 mM bestatin and 1 mM diprotin A with DSIP on the AP side of the monolayers resulted in a substantial increase in the stability of the peptide (83.2 +/- 3.7% remaining after a 2-hr incubation). However, under these conditions, a new metabolite (Trp-Ala-Gly-Gly-Asp-Ala-Ser) was observed with a formation that could be inhibited by inclusion of 1 mM captopril, an inhibitor of peptidyl dipeptidase A. Therefore, the stability of DSIP could be further increased (95.1 +/- 1.6% remaining after a 2-hr incubation) by incubating the peptide with 0.29 mM bestatin, 1 mM diprotin A, and 1 mM captopril. However, even when the major metabolic pathways were inhibited on the AP side of the cell monolayer, no DSIP was detected on the BL side of a Caco-2 cell monolayer. These results suggest that a yet unidentified metabolic pathway is preventing the AP-to-BL flux of DSIP or that DSIP has lower "intrinsic" ability to permeate across cultured intestinal epithelial cells than across cultured brain endothelial cells, a cell culture model of the blood-brain barrier.