Abstract
The undecapeptide substance P (SP) is believed to participate in synaptic transmission in primary sensory neurones and in many other parts of the central nervous system1,2, including (in the rat) the pontine structure locus coeruleus (LC). So far, studies of the role of SP in the central nervous system have been impeded by the lack of a specific antagonist to SP. Immunoneutralization of SP has been used3, and more recently synthetic analogues of SP, in which D-amino acids are substituted for L-amino acids, have been found to block peripheral effects of SP4,5. We now describe experiments which show that the peptide which differs from SP in the presence of D-Pro at position 2 and D-Trp at positions 7 and 9 specifically blocks in vivo the SP-induced excitation of LC neurones and is thus a CNS antagonist of SP.
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Engberg, G., Svensson, T., Rosell, S. et al. A synthetic peptide as an antagonist of substance P. Nature 293, 222–223 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/293222a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/293222a0
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