Taipan natriuretic peptides are potent and selective agonists for the natriuretic peptide receptor A

Cardiovascular ailments are a major cause of mortality where over 1.3 billion people suffer from hypertension leading to heart-disease related deaths. Snake venoms possess a broad repertoire of natriuretic peptides with therapeutic potential for treating hypertension, congestive heart failure, and related cardiovascular disease. We now describe several taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus) natriuretic peptides TNPa-e which stimulated cGMP production through the natriuretic peptide receptor A (NPR-A) with higher potencies for the rat NPR-A (rNPR-A) over human NPR-A (hNPR-A). TNPc and TNPd were the most potent, demonstrating 100- and 560-fold selectivity for rNPR-A over hNPR-A. In vivo studies found that TNPc decreased diastolic and systolic blood pressure (BP) and increased heart rate (HR) in conscious normotensive rabbits, to a level that was similar to that of human atrial natriuretic peptide (hANP). TNPc also enhanced the bradycardia due to cardiac afferent stimulation (Bezold–Jarisch reflex). This indicated that TNPc possesses the ability to lower blood pressure and facilitate cardiac vagal afferent reflexes but unlike hANP does not produce tachycardia. The 3-dimensional structure of TNPc was well defined within the pharmacophoric disulfide ring, displaying two turn-like regions (RMSD = 1.15 Å). Further, its much greater biological stability together with its selectivity and potency will enhance its usefulness as a biological tool.