Synthesis and comparative properties of two amide‐generating resin linkers for use in solid phase peptide synthesis
Well‐characterized resins of high purity are critical for effective solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS). The quality of commercial (4‐methyl)benzhydrylamine‐resin (MBHA‐resin), used for the synthesis of peptide amides, is not consistent and residual ketone functionalities are frequently present. Such ketone or aldehyde impurities lead to the formation of acylation‐resistant deletion peptides in SPPS. To avoid these undesirable side reactions, we have optimized the preparation of two amide‐generating linkers, which, in combination with aminomethyl‐resin prepared directly from polystyrene resin, serve as alternatives to MBHA‐resin for peptide amide synthesis. Then we have explored their comparative properties in SPPS. Use of sonication in reductive amination facilitated the synthesis of both benzhydrylamine (BHA) and MBHA linkers. Copyright © 2010 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An improved procedure for the preparation of aminomethyl polystyrene resin and its use in solid phase (peptide) synthesis
Abstract 2-Aminoethanol was used to successively replace hydrazine in the preparation of aminomethyl polystyrene resin thereby facilitating purification and by-product removal. The syntheses of the polypeptides ACP (65–74) and oxytocin demonstrated that the use of aminomethyl polystyrene resin prepared in this manner was equal to or better than that prepared using the hydrazine method.
Conserved folding in retroviral proteases: crystal structure of a synthetic HIV-1 protease.
The rational design of drugs that can inhibit the action of viral proteases depends on obtaining accurate structures of these enzymes. The crystal structure of chemically synthesized HIV-1 protease has been determined at 2.8 angstrom resolution (R factor of 0.184) with the use of a model based on the Rous sarcoma virus protease structure. In this enzymatically active protein, the cysteines were replaced by alpha-amino-n-butyric acid, a nongenetically coded amino acid. This structure, in which all 99 amino acids were located, differs in several important details from that reported previously by others. The interface between the identical subunits forming the active protease dimer is composed of four well-ordered beta strands from both the amino and carboxyl termini and residues 86 to 94 have a helical conformation. The observed arrangement of the dimer interface suggests possible designs for dimerization inhibitors.