SOLID-PHASE PEPTIDE-SYNTHESIS ON PROTEINS

A new method for solid-phase peptide synthesis in which a protein is used as the solid support has been developed. Two aspects of the method have been demonstrated. The peptides H-Phe-Leu-Glu-Glu-Val-OH (1) and H-Leu-Leu-Ala-Gly-Val-OH (2), respectively, were synthesized on the amino groups of BSA via a cleaveable linker, using the Fmoc group protecting scheme. The free peptides were obtained by cleavage from the protein with 95% TFA, precipitation in diethyl ether and additional work-up by either dialysis or centrifugation through a membrane followed by gel filtration. The identity of the products was determined by amino acid analysis and HPLC. The peptide-protein conjugates, H-Ser-Met-Asp-Thr-Ser-Asn-Lys-Glu-Glu-Lys-BSA (3) and H-Thr-Val-Leu-BTG (4), were obtained in the same manner, omitting the cleavable linker group. It was found that 35-50 peptide chains were conjugated per molecule BSA and BTG, respectively. Immunization of rabbits with conjugate 3 gave rise to peptide specific antibodies. This method will be useful for generation of sequence specific antibodies, since the peptide is conjugated to the carrier protein exclusively via its C-terminus, and will allow synthesis of highly specific peptide-protein conjugates.