Release of the heptapeptide Met-enkephalin-Arg6-Phe7 and of the octapeptide Met-enkephalin-Arg6-Gly7-Leu8 from rat striatum in vitro and their rapid inactivation.

The heptapeptide Met-enkephalin-Arg6-Phe7 (MERF) and the octapeptide Met-enkephalin-Arg6-Gly7-Leu8 (MERGL) are potent opioid peptides present in the sequence of proenkephalin, the common precursor of Met- and Leu-enkephalin (ME and LE). We demonstrate that MERF and MERGL are released concomitantly with ME and LE from rat striatal slices following a depolarisation by K+. This release is a Ca2+-dependent process. While the ratios of ME to LE, MERF and MERGL found in the tissue (ME/LE = 2.6; ME/MERF = 3.1; ME/MERGL = 4.5) are in good agreement with the ratios found in the proenkephalin molecule (ME:LE:MERF:MERGL = 4:1:1:1), the amounts of MERF and MERGL recovered from the medium are low compared to those of ME and LE, suggesting a rapid degradation of released MERF and MERGL. In fact, when incubated with striatal slices, (3H-Tyr)-MERF is rapidly degraded by four classes of peptidases: the "enkephalinase", the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), aminopeptidase(s) and an endopeptidase releasing the tetrapeptide Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe (YGGF). Whereas the activities of the three former peptidases are reduced or abolished in the presence of thiorphan (0.1 microM), captopril (1 microM) and bestatin (20 microM), the amount of YGGF formed by the endopeptidase is not reduced in these conditions but actually increased.