Tuftsin

• UniProt: P01858

• CAS Number: 9063-57-4

Tuftsin is a peptide consisting of the amino acids threonine, lysine, proline, arginine (Thr -Lys -Pro-Arg ). It is a tissue hormone phagocytosis.

Function

Tuftsin is as a messenger responsible for chemotaxis, phagocytosis and oxidative burst of neutrophils and macrophages. It is an endogenous adjuvant. Further tuftsin has an influence on the formation of antibodies.

Granulocytes and macrophages or monocytes, have at their surface receptors for tuftsin. Tuftsin appropriately modified can therefore be used as a target for imaging of inflammation.

The use in immunotherapy of tuftsin is discussed by different authors.

An antagonist of tuftsin is the pentapeptide Thr- Lys-Pro -Pro-Arg, to the same receptors of neutrophils or macrophages, or monocytes as Tuftsin binds, but does not develop the stimulatory effect.

Production in the human body

Thr -Lys -Pro-Arg sequence is a part of immunoglobulin G (IgG). Tuftsin is produced in the spleen by proteolytic cleavage of the heavy chain of IgG in the position 289 and 292, the known enzyme in the spleen - tuftsin Endocarboxypeptidase cleaves IgG so that firstly the carboxy - side of Tuftsins is exposed. After that binds the fragment on the tuftsin receptor to the carrier molecule Leukokinin of neutrophils or monocytes, or macrophages. Finally, the fragment through the membrane enzyme Leukokininase in the tetrapeptide tuftsin is cleaved, which can then exert its full biological activity.

After surgical removal of the spleen ( splenectomy ), there is a tuftsin deficiency. This is a reduction of chemotactic and phagocytic activity of neutrophils. The tuftsin deficiency manifests itself in an increased susceptibility to certain infectious diseases.

Discovery

V. Najjar and K. Nishioka discovered in 1970 together the tuftsin .. They named the oligopeptide according to Tufts University in Medford ( Massachusetts), a suburb of Boston, where they discovered the tuftsin.