T. Kawakami et al.
Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn. Vol. 83, No. 5 (2010)
573
H-Ala-Lys-Leu-Arg-Phe-Gly-Cys-Pro-Cys-Ala-Pro-Ala-Arg-Gly-OH (13i)
14 + H-Cys-Ala-Pro-Ala-Arg-Gly-OH (16)
Scheme 4. DKP thioester formation and cleavage of the C-terminal portion from the CPC peptide.
for DKP thioester 14. DKP thioester 14¤ was determined to be
an epimer of 14 in the DKP moiety, cyclo(-Cys(R)-Pro-),
which was confirmed by RP-HPLC, in which product 14¤
co-eluted with the epimers in the DKP moiety, although
cyclo(-D-Cys(R)-Pro-) and cyclo(-Cys(R)-D-Pro-) were not
separated on a C18 column. Although DKPs are known to be
epimerized easily in the presence of a base,8 it is not clear at
this stage that the DKP was epimerized in the formation in
HFBA. The crude mixture of DKP peptides 14 and 14¤ was
reacted with an excess amount of Cys-peptide 6 to give a single
ligated isomer 7 in a yield of 17% based on CPC peptide 13a
(Figure 1C).
separately introduced. After combining all of the resins again,
the peptide chain was elongated by the usual SPPS to give a H-
Ala-Lys(Boc)-Leu-Arg(Pbf)-Phe-Gly-Cys(Trt)-Pro-Ser(tBu)-
Xbb-Xcc-Arg(Pbf)-NH-resin, in which the Xaa position was
fixed with a Ser residue, and both Xbb and Xcc positions
contained 8 different amino acid residues. The peptides were
cleaved from the resin, and partially purified by RP-HPLC, in
which the peptide-fractions were combined together and
lyophilized to give a library of H-Ala-Lys-Leu-Arg-Phe-
Gly-Cys-Pro-Ser-Xbb-Xcc-Arg-NH2.
Reaction of Peptide Library 5 with Cys-peptide 6.
A
typical reaction procedure is as follows: A peptide library 5
(0.5 mg) was treated with Cys-peptide 6 (0.5 mg) in a carbonate
buffer solution (pH 8.2) (60 ¯L) containing 20 mM tris(2-
carboxyethyl)phosphine (TCEP) at room temperature for
24 h. After adding a solution of 0.2 M dithiothreitol (DTT)
(0.12 mL), followed by stirring for 1 h, the reaction mixture
was analyzed by RP-HPLC with detection by absorbance at
220 and 280 nm, and the fraction containing a ligated product 7
was analyzed by MS. In the reactions in which the Xaa residue
was fixed with a Cys or Ser residue, a ligated peptide was
observed both by RP-HPLC and MS. 7: MALDI-TOF: found
m/z 956.7, calcd for (M + H)+ 956.5.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a peptide containing a Cys-Pro-Cys (CPC)
sequence can be transformed into a peptide DKP thioester and
a C-terminal peptide with the N-terminal Cys residue. The
reaction required acidic conditions and a high temperature,
and current efforts are directed toward optimizing the reaction.
It is noteworthy that recombinant proteins containing the
CPC sequence would be transformed into the thioester, since
proteins containing a CPC sequence can be prepared by
recombinant DNA techniques. So far, the peptide thioesters
are prepared, via recombinant DNA techniques, by the use of
intein domains, which catalyze protein splicing reactions.9 The
CPC peptide will provide an alternate approach for preparing
recombinant peptide thioesters.
Formation of Peptide DKP Thioester 14 under Acidic
Conditions. Typical Procedures: 0.1 M HCl: A solution of
peptide 13 (0.20 ¯mol) containing 10 mM TCEP and 0.1 M
HCl (0.20 mL) in an evacuated, sealed tube was heated at
110 °C for 2 h. The reaction mixture (30 ¯L) was directly
analyzed by RP-HPLC, with detection by absorbance at
220 nm, and the fractions were applied to ESI-MS. Isolated
yield was determined by quantitative amino acid analysis.
HFBA vapor:12 A small glass tube (6 mm © 30 mm), con-
taining lyophilized peptide 13 (0.20 ¯mol), was placed in a
large glass tube (12 mm © 105 mm), that contained HFBA
(0.10 mL), evacuated and then flame sealed. It was incubated at
110 °C for 4 h. A 50% aqueous acetonitrile solution was added
to the reaction mixture, which was then lyophilized. The crude
mixture was dissolved in 5% acetonitrile (0.10 mL), an aliquot
of the solution (30 ¯L) was analyzed by RP-HPLC and the
fractions were analyzed by ESI-MS.
Experimental
Peptide Synthesis. Peptides were prepared by the standard
Fmoc solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) by using an
automated peptide synthesizer, ACT440³ (aapptec, Louisville,
KY), or a manual procedure by employing N,N-diisopropyl-
carbodiimide and 1-hydroxybenzotriazole as activating re-
agents. Peptides were cleaved from the solid support by
treatment with reagent B,10 purified by RP-HPLC on a C18
column using a linear increasing gradient of acetonitrile in
water/0.1% TFA, and confirmed by MALDI-TOF MS on a
Bruker AutoFLEX spectrometer or ESI-MS on a Thermo
Finnigan LCQ· DECA XP spectrometer.
Preparation of Peptide Library 5. A library was prepared
by the split-and-mix synthesis method.11 A typical procedure
for the synthesis of a peptide containing a Ser residue at
the Xaa site is as follows: After Fmoc-Arg(Pbf)-OH was
introduced to a Rink amide resin, the resin was divided into
8 aliquots. To each resin, 8 different amino acid derivatives,
Fmoc-Asn(Trt)-OH, Fmoc-Asp(OtBu)-OH, Fmoc-Cys(Trt)-
OH, Fmoc-Gln(Trt)-OH, Fmoc-Gly-OH, Fmoc-His(Trt)-OH,
Fmoc-Leu-OH, or Fmoc-Ser(tBu)-OH, were separately intro-
duced. All resins were combined, and divided into 8 aliquots
again. To each resin, 8 different amino acid derivatives were
13a: MS (ESI): found m/z 993.7, calcd for (M + H)+ 993.5;
amino acid analysis: ProndGly1Ala0.91CysndLeu0.90Phe0.87
Lys0.98Arg0.93
13b: MS (ESI): found m/z 994.6, calcd for (M + H)+ 994.5;
amino acid analysis: ProndGly1Ala0.97CysndLeu0.97Phe0.99
Lys0.97Arg0.97
13c: MS (ESI): found m/1050.5, calcd for (M + H)+
1050.5; amino acid analysis: ProndGly2Ala0.97CysndLeu0.98
Phe0.99Lys1.0Arg0.98
13d: MS (ESI): found m/z 1051.5, calcd for (M + H)+
1051.5; amino acid analysis: ProndGly2Ala0.99CysndLeu0.98
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