Separation and microanalysis of growth factors by Phast system gel electrophoresis and by DNA synthesis in cell culture

A simple, micro-scale method was established for the characterization of growth factors at picogram levels using Phast system gel electrophoresis followed by monitoring the mitogenic activity by DNA synthesis in cell culture instead of staining methods. The separations and bioassays were carried out with a procedure involving Phast polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis or isoelectric focusing, gel slicing along the template, elution of growth factors through Transwell membranes and measurement of [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA of normal rat kidney (NRK) fibroblasts. Transwell cell culture chamber inserts separated sliced gel pieces from culture cells and also permitted the direct elution of growth factors into the culture medium. The lower limit of sensitivity for human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) and transforming growth factor type alpha (TGF-alpha) were about 50 and 200 pg, respectively. At these concentrations, they were not detectable by the current most sensitive silver staining technique. Iodinated hEGF and TGF-alpha were also used to demonstrate the feasibility of determining the isoelectric point and molecular weight of peptides at picogram levels. This method is reliable, reproducible and can improve current methods for the characterization of growth factors.     

脑啡肽的固相合成与LC-MS/MS分离鉴定

多肽在生命过程中扮演着重要的角色,对其生理生化功能的研究与应用,离不开对单一多肽物质的需求,而化学合成法是获取目标多肽的最有效方法之一。对合成产物的分离与鉴定,是优化合成条件,以得到高产率的重要保证。以两种内源性神经肽亮氨酸脑啡肽和甲硫氨酸脑啡肽为模型,利用Fmoc固相多肽合成策略对其进行合成,并建立了HPLC-ESI-MS/MS新方法用于所制备的亮氨酸脑啡肽和甲硫氨酸脑啡肽的分离与结构鉴定。研究结果显示,主要合成产物均为目标多肽,副产物主要包括C端丢失1个氨基酸所形成的四肽,以及由于甲硫氨酸残基氧化而形成的含甲硫氨酸亚砜的多肽。该研究为高效合成含敏感氨基酸的生理活性多肽提供了新信息。     

Selection of peptides targeting helix 31 of bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA by screening M13 phage-display libraries

Ribosomal RNA is the catalytic portion of ribosomes, and undergoes a variety of conformational changes during translation. Structural changes in ribosomal RNA can be facilitated by the presence of modified nucleotides. Helix 31 of bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA harbors two modified nucleotides, m2G966 and m?C967, that are highly conserved among bacteria, though the degree and nature of the modifications in this region are different in eukaryotes. Contacts between helix 31 and the P-site tRNA, initiation factors, and ribosomal proteins highlight the importance of this region in translation. In this work, a heptapeptide M13 phage-display library was screened for ligands that target the wild-type, naturally modified bacterial helix 31. Several peptides, including TYLPWPA, CVRPFAL, TLWDLIP, FVRPFPL, ATPLWLK, and DIRTQRE, were found to be prevalent after several rounds of screening. Several of the peptides exhibited moderate affinity (in the high nM to low μM range) to modified helix 31 in biophysical assays, including surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and were also shown to bind 30S ribosomal subunits. These peptides also inhibited protein synthesis in cell-free translation assays.     

Modelling of prebiotic synthesis and selection of peptides under isothermal conditions and thermal cycling mode

The model peptide synthesis from mixtures of amino acids was carried out under the thermal cycling and isothermal modes. The compositions of the obtained mixtures of products and the primary amino acid sequence of the synthesized peptides were determined by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry in combination with high-performance liquid chromatography with the application of de novo sequencing of the synthesized products. The processes of abiogenous synthesis of peptides were shown to occur under relatively mild temperature conditions and give a substantially less number of peptides as compared with the possible statistical set. The evolution of the system takes place in the process of the synthesis in solid phase with the disappearance of a series of the most unstable peptides. The selection process with the formation of complementary peptides takes place in peptide synthesis under the thermal cyclic mode.     

Cyclic peptidyl inhibitors of Grb2 and tensin SH2 domains identified from combinatorial libraries

Cyclic peptides provide attractive lead compounds for drug discovery and excellent molecular probes in biomedical research. In this work, a novel method has been developed for the high-throughput synthesis, screening, and identification of cyclic peptidyl ligands against macromolecular targets. Support-bound cyclic phosphotyrosyl peptide libraries containing randomized amino acid sequences and different ring sizes (theoretical diversity of 3.2 x 10(6)) were synthesized and screened against the SH2 domains of Grb2 and tensin. Potent, selective inhibitors were identified from the libraries and were generally more effective than the corresponding linear peptides. One of the inhibitors selected against the Grb2 SH2 domain inhibited human breast cancer cell growth and disrupted actin filaments. This method should be applicable to the development of cyclic peptidyl inhibitors against other protein domains, enzymes, and receptors.     

含有络合功能基的非天然氨基酸的设计、合成及在生物活性肽中的应用

设计合成了一类侧链带有络合基团的非天然氨基酸, 即侧链带有N,N-二羧甲基氨甲基、N,N-二酰胺甲基氨甲基和N,N-二羟乙基氨甲基的苯丙氨酸衍生物, 并将这类非天然氨基酸用于促性腺激素释放激素(LHRH)类似物的固相合成. 高效液相色谱分析结果表明, 粗肽的纯度较好, 易于纯化; 用电喷雾质谱测定了多肽的分子量. 这些非天然氨基酸可作为其它肽类药物合成的构建单元.     

Amine-terminated dendrimers as biomimetic templates for silica nanosphere formation

In diatoms, silica synthesis occurs by use of complex posttranslationally modified peptides, termed silaffins, and highly complex biological polyamine structures. Silaffin peptides have lysine residues that are modified to long-chain polyamine moieties of N-methyl derivatives of polypropylenimine to drive silica synthesis at slightly acidic pH conditions. Using polypropylenimine (PPI) and PAMAM amine-terminated dendrimers as a biomimetic analogue of the polyamine modifications of silaffins, we have demonstrated the condensation of silica nanospheres. We have shown that the dendrimers react in an amine concentration-dependent fashion yielding silica nanospheres with a distinct size distribution reminiscent of the structures produced from both the modified and nonmodified peptides extracted from diatoms. Additionally, the templates were encapsulated by the growing nanospheres and precipitated from solution in a manner similar to that previously described for the bioactive peptides and polyamines.     

Solid-phase synthesis of lipidated peptides

A new flexible and efficient methodology for the solid-phase synthesis of lipidated peptides has been developed. The approach is based on the use of previously synthesized building blocks and overcomes the limitations of previously reported methods, since long doubly lipidated peptides can be synthesized by using this route. Furthermore, it was thus possible to prepare a large number of N- and H-Ras peptides bearing a wide range of reporter and/or linking groups--efficient tools for the investigation of biological processes. In terms of efficiency and flexibility this solid-phase method is superior to the solution-phase synthesis. It gives pure peptides in multimilligram amounts within a much shorter time and with superior overall yield.     

QDs标记免疫调节肽及其与T细胞作用的表征

量子点是直径为1~10 nm的球形半导体纳米晶体, 也被称为半导体量子点, 简称QDs. 与有机荧光染料相比, QDs具有激发光谱单一、 荧光谱线窄、 发光效率高、 发光颜色可调、 可进行多色联合标记, 并且光稳定性好等优点, 所以量子点是非常有前途的生物标记物[^1,2]. 研究结果表明, 量子点可以与许多生物分子如蛋白质、多肽、核酸及小分子配体等偶联. 现已有许多关于量子点标记生物分子的报道, 如用量子点标记木瓜蛋白酶、 胰蛋白酶、 天花粉蛋白和表皮生长因子等^[3-5].用量子点标记生物分子作为荧光探针已成功地应用于多种生物分析, 如DNA杂交监测、 免疫分析和用QDs检测ATP推动的反应等^[4,6,7]. 目前, 对量子点标记生物分子的报道多为对大分子蛋白质的标记, 而对小分子肽标记的报道却很少.     

Solid-phase synthesis of fullerene-peptides

The solid-phase synthesis of peptides (SPPS) containing [60]fullerene-functionalized amino acids is reported. A new amino acid, fulleropyrrolidino-glutamic acid (Fgu), is used for the SPPS of a series of analogues of different length based on the natural Leu(5)-Enkephalin and on cationic antimicrobial peptides. These fullero-peptides were prepared on different solid supports to analyze the influence of the resin on the synthesis. Optimized protocols for the coupling and deprotection procedures were determined allowing the synthesis of highly pure peptides in sufficient quantities for evaluation of biological activities. In particular, to avoid side reactions of the fullerene moiety with bases and nucleophiles, the removal of the protecting groups was performed under inert conditions (nitrogen or argon in the dark). We have encountered serious problems with the recovery of the crude compounds, especially when Fgu was inserted in the proximity of the resin core as fullero-peptides tend to remain embedded inside the resin. Eventually, all of the fullero-peptides were easily purified, and the cationic peptides were tested for their antimicrobial activities. They displayed a specific activity against the Gram-positive bacterium S. aureus and also lysed erythrocytes. The availability of a fullero-amino acid easily useable in the SPPS of fullero-peptides may thus open the way to the synthesis of new types of biologically active oligomers.     

Current development of bicyclic peptides

Bicyclic peptides, a class of polypeptides with two loops within their structure, have emerged as powerful tools in the development of new peptide drugs. They have the potential to bind to challenged drug targets, with antibody-like affinity and selectivity. Meanwhile, bicyclic peptides possess small molecule-like access to chemical synthesis, which is conducive to large-scale synthesis and screening. In the last five years, bicyclic peptide technology has been increasingly developed, and researchers have carried out a variety of studies to elucidate the potential functions of bicyclic peptides. With the continuous development of synthetic methods and the advances of new technology to build bicyclic peptide libraries, bicyclic peptides are now becoming widely used in the development of new drugs for various diseases. This perspective provides an overview of the structure types, synthesis and applications of bicyclic peptides in current drug development, and our own views on future challenges of bicyclic peptides.     

Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis

The last two decades have been an era of rapid progress in peptide research. This era was begun by the work of Sanger on the amino acid sequence determination of insulin and by du Vigneaud on the structure determination and synthesis of oxytocin. This period has seen impressive progress in the structure elucidation and synthesis of many peptides of natural origin and of great biological significance, as well as in methods for sequence determination and chemical synthesis of peptides [1–4]. Perfection of techniques and instruments for automatic determination of the amino acid sequence of peptides and proteins has made possible a greatly broadened understanding of genetics and evolution as well as the more chemical areas of mechanism of action of enzymes and hormones, and physical chemistry of peptides and proteins. Effective methods of peptide synthesis are crucial to progress in this area, because only by synthesis can adequate amounts of important peptides be made available for chemical, biological, and physical studies, as well as for exploration of the structure-function aspects of biological molecules. In general, progress in peptide synthesis has lagged far behind that in amino acid sequence determination. This is not surprising since effective peptide synthesis requires a very sophisticated system of selectively removable protecting groups for functions of the amino acids involved, and the synthesis of a large heteropolytner of defined sequence requires near perfection of each one of the many steps of the assembly. The classical approach to peptide synthesis, using standard organic chemical methods of synthesis and purification of intermediates, has yielded impressive results during these two decades. However, the special problems associated with the assembly of large molecules make staggering investments in time and materials necessary for the synthesis of large peptides or proteins by classical methods.     

Weak interactions and molecular recognition in systems involving electron transfer proteins

Electrostatic interactions and other weak interactions between amino acid side chains on protein surfaces play important roles in molecular recognition, and the mechanism of their intermolecular interactions has gained much interest. We established that charged peptides are useful for investigating the molecular recognition character of proteins and their molecular interaction induced structural changes. Positively charged lysine peptides competitively inhibited electron transfer from reduced cytochrome f (cyt f or cytochrome c (cyt c) to oxidized plastocyanin (PC), due to neutralization of the negatively charged site of PC by formation of PC-lysine peptide complexes. Lysine peptides also inhibited electron transfer from cyt c to cytochrome c peroxidase. Likewise, negatively charged aspartic acid peptides interacted with the positively charged sites of cytfand cyt c, and competitively inhibited electron transfer from reduced cytfor cyt c to oxidized PC and from [Fe(CN)6]4- to oxidized cyt c. Changes in the geometry and a shift to a higher redox potential of the active site Cu of PC on oligolysine binding were detected by spectroscopic and electrochemical measurements, owing to the absence of absorption in the visible region for lysine peptides. Structural and redox potential changes were also observed for cyt f and cyt c by interaction with aspartic acid peptides.     

Synthesis of cyclic peptides by ring-closing metathesis

The synthesis of a series of "amide to amide" cyclized peptides by ring-closing metathesis (RCM) as well as a convenient synthesis for the linear precursors is described. In addition, the influence of the length of the alkene substituents and the influence of the peptide sequence is investigated, leading to a set of general rules to obtain "amide to amide" cyclized peptides by RCM.     

Biomimetic synthesis of lantibiotics

The lantibiotics are a class of highly posttranslationally modified small peptide antibiotics containing numerous lanthionine and dehydroamino acid residues. We have prepared peptides containing multiple dehydroamino acids and cysteine residues in order to probe the biomimetic synthesis of the lantibiotics from their precursor peptides. A novel synthetic methodology was developed to allow the synthesis of multiple dehydroamino acid containing peptides. Cyclisations were rapid, quantitative and regiospecific. Remarkably the peptide sequences alone appear to contain sufficient information to direct a series of stereo- and regiospecific ring closures. Thus both the two linear peptides for the B and E-rings closed stereoselectively. In the case of the A-ring precursor peptide which contained two dehydroamino acids, cyclisation was again totally regioselective, although not totally stereoselective.     

反应时间、温度和溶剂对缬氨酸自组装成聚合肽反应的影响

寡肽类化合物一般具有较强的生物活性,多数可作为药物或药物前体,因此成为人们的研究热点之一．目前寡肽的合成方法主要有液相法、固相法及酶促合成法,这些合成方法往往需要对氨基酸的活性基团进行选择性保护,步骤繁琐．近期研究发现,在水-醇体系中α-氨基酸被磷酰化为N-磷酰-α-氨基酸后,可发生自组装聚合肽反应;在无水条件下,N,O-二(三甲基硅基)-α-氨基酸可与磷酰化试剂如O,O-亚苯基磷酰氯反应生成N-磷酰-α-氨基酸,后者也可通过自组装反应得到二～八肽,但这些N-磷酰-α-氨基酸的制备均需使用有机磷试剂．我们发现,在无机磷试剂如PCl5等辅助下,α-氨基酸同样可以发生自组装反应,得到一系列寡聚肽,这既可为寡聚肽的合成提供一种新的方法,同时,因无机磷试剂在原始地球条件下更可能存在,因而对于揭示多肽及蛋白质的起源具有重要意义．氨基酸的自组装反应具有链锁反应的特点,因此必须控制反应条件实现对反应的控制。     

Hot or not—the influence of elevated temperature and microwave irradiation on the solid phase synthesis of an affibody

Despite the advances of solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) the synthesis of long peptides is still challenging. Microwave irradiation and conventional heating are considered to improve the efficiency of SPPS. It has been shown that conventional heating and heating by microwave irradiation improves the efficiency of solid phase synthesis of peptides that are prone to aggregation as compared to the synthesis at room temperature. In this Letter, the influence of elevated temperature and microwave irradiation on the homogeneity of the synthesis product of a 58-mer peptide affibody has been compared. A detailed analysis by high resolution HPLC and LC-MS mass spectrometry using a high-mass resolution Orbitrap Exactive mass spectrometer was performed. This study revealed that neither thermal heating nor microwave heating improves the yield and purity of the crude product as compared to the synthesis at room temperature. In contrast, the formation of undesirable side products rather increased by microwave irradiation. These results indicate that neither heating nor microwave enhancement of solid phase synthesis does allow a significant improvement of peptide sequences with a low aggregation potential.     

Efficient solid-phase synthesis of cyclic RGD peptides under controlled microwave heating

Cyclic RGD peptides are potent antagonists for the α_vβ₃ integrin receptor. In this Letter, microwave-assisted solid-phase synthesis of cyclic RGD peptides is described. In a coupling reaction between Fmoc-Arg(Pbf)-OH and high-loading H-Gly-Trt(2-Cl) resin, multiple coupling reactions were required for completion under the conventional HBTU activation. We found that the use of COMU, a new coupling reagent, under microwave heating to 50 °C accelerated the reaction even inside the resin. This method was applicable to the synthesis of linear pentapeptides, H-Asp(OtBu)-Xxx-Yyy-Arg(Pbf)-Gly-OH (Xxx = d-Phe(p-Br) or d-Tyr, Yyy = Lys(Boc) or MeVal). Cyclization of these peptides followed by deprotection gave the desired cyclic RGD peptides with high purity.     

Nitrite anions induce nitrosative deamination of peptides and proteins

In the present study, reactions of sodium nitrite with proteins/peptides were characterized with mass spectrometry. The reaction generates two major products: replacement of the amino group by a hydroxyl group and formation of an alkene derivative by loss of a NH3 group at the N-terminus and the side chain of lysine residues of proteins/peptides. The reaction proceeds rapidly in weak acidic solution and at 37 degrees C in the presence of a millimolar concentration of nitrite, demonstrating that nitrite induces nitrosative deamination in proteins and peptides. The facile nitrite-induced modification of amino groups of protein/peptides changes the chemical nature of proteins and may have various applications in peptide synthesis, analytical chemistry, and protein engineering. It also provides information to enhance our understanding of functions of nitrite ions in biology and food preservation.