Cholecystokinin tetrapeptide (CCK-4, Trp- Met-

Asp Asp may refer to: Places * Asp, part of Densbüren, Aargau, Switzerland * Aspe (''Asp'' in Valencian), Alicante, Spain * Asp Lake, a lake in Minnesota Animals * Asp (fish) * Asp (snake), in antiquity, one of several venomous snakes ** ''Cera ...

- Phe-NH₂) is a

peptide Peptides (, ) are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides. A ...

fragment derived from the larger peptide hormone cholecystokinin. Unlike cholecystokin which has a variety of roles in the gastrointestinal system as well as

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all par ...

effects, CCK-4 acts primarily in the brain as an

anxiogenic An anxiogenic or panicogenic substance is one that causes anxiety. This effect is in contrast to anxiolytic agents, which inhibits anxiety. Together these categories of psychoactive compounds may be referred to as anxiotropic compounds. Anxiogen ...

, although it does retain some GI effects, but not as much as CCK-8 or the full length polypeptide CCK-58. CCK-4 reliably causes severe

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

symptoms when administered to humans in a dose of as little as 50μg, and is commonly used in scientific research to induce panic attacks for the purpose of testing new anxiolytic drugs. Since it is a peptide, CCK-4 must be administered by injection, and is rapidly broken down once inside the body so has only a short duration of action, although numerous synthetic analogues with modified properties are known.

References

{{Reflist Cholecystokinin agonists Tetrapeptides Anxiogenics Thioethers

See also

References