Immunosuppressant Peptide Abu-TGIRIS-Abu-NH(2) and its Application for Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis

Immunosuppressant peptide immunocortin for the first time was described in 1993. It corresponds to residues 11–20 of human Ig heavy chain (conserved motif of V(H) domain). There are no data about production of immunocortin by proteolysis of Ig in vivo. Synthetic immunocortin in concentration ~ 10(−9) M suppresses phagocytosis in peritoneal macrophages, ConA-dependent blast transformation of rat lymphocytes, exhibits ACTH-like neurotropic activity and was suggested as a potential drug for treatment of a multiple sclerosis (MS). Here, we report a sequence and method of synthesis of Abu-TGIRIS-Abu-NH(2) (Abu, alpha-aminobutyric acid), an artificial analogue of immunocortin. Biological trials of peritoneally injected Abu-TGIRIS-Abu-NH(2) gave an evidence of its better efficacy versus immunocortin in a test for suppression of the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in Dark Agouti (DA) rats.