Acquisition of a Peptide Synthesizer

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The acquisition of a sophisticated peptide synthesizer for the Bioanalytical Facility at Florida State University will have a major impact on the research efforts of both chemists and biologists. For the work of Dr. Cross this capability makes possible a far more detailed structural study of membrane bound peptides by solid state NMR than has been possible before. These biophysical studies requiring large samples of isotopically labeled peptides will allow for the development of an atomic resolution picture of both the three dimensional structure and molecular dynamics. For one this capability will allow for studies of the mechanism of action of the collagenase enzymes which have a remarkable specificity not only for the amino acid sequence but also for supramolecular structural features. To deconvolute these specificity requirements, a wide range of peptides will be synthesized to more clearly define the primary sequence specificity. Futhermore it is possible to synthesize specific sequences which have certain supramolecular properties. Another requires synthetic peptides for studying the binding of antitumor agents (taxol and taxol analogs) to tublin models. While the binding studies are just being initiated this research project is getting a lot of attention and these studies are a very important step in the understanding of the taxol antitumor activity. The biologists, will also be studying synthetic segments of large proteins. One is interested in characterizing the Luteinizing Hormone Release Inhibiting Factor (LHRIF) as well as preparing analogs of super active agonists and antagonists. Another will be assaying for antibody binding to synthetic polypeptides, as well as an ability of the polypeptides to inhibit reactivity between antibody and idiotope or allotype- bearing Ig molecule.