In vitro metabolic stability of iodinated obestatin peptides

Different iodinated mouse obestatin peptides have been characterized toward their in vitro stability in the main metabolic compartments plasma, liver and kidney. Using HPLC–UV for quantification, significant differences in the degradation kinetics of the iodinated peptides, arising from both enzymatic proteolysis and dehalogenation, were found when compared to the native, unmodified peptide. HPLC–MS/MS analysis demonstrated that the cleavage sites were dependent upon the biological matrix and the location of the amino acid residue incorporating the iodine atom(s). The degrading proteases were found to target peptide bonds further away from the iodine incorporation, while proteolytic cleavages of nearby peptide bonds were more limited. Diiodinated amino acid residue containing peptides were found to be more susceptible to deiodination than the mono-iodinated derivative. In plasma, the percentage of peptide degradation solely attributed to deiodinase activity after 20 min incubation reached up to 25% for 2,5-diiodo-H19-obestatin compared to 20% and only 3% for (3,5-diiodo-Y16)- and (3-iodo-Y16) obestatin, respectively. Hence, our results demonstrate that the different iodinated peptides pose significantly different metabolization properties and thus, also different biological activities are expected for peptides upon iodination.

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► Iodinated peptides are not only hydrolyzed by proteases, but also reductively deiodinated in several mammalian tissues.
► The degree and position of iodination influences its metabolization kinetics and products formed, which is moreover dependent on the tissue.
► Analytical characterization and functional evaluation are required in biomedical investigations using iodinated peptides.