Application of aqueous methanesulfonic acid (MSA) for selective chemical removal of pyroglutamic acid (pGlu) residue from five biologically active pyroglutamyl-peptides (pGlu-X-peptides, X=amino acid residue at position 2) was examined. Gonadotropin releasing hormone (Gn-RH), dog neuromedin U-8 (d-NMU-8), physalaemin (PH), a bradykinin potentiating peptide (BPP-5a) and neurotensin (NT) as pGlu-X-peptides were incubated in either 70% or 90% aqueous MSA at 25 °C. HPLC analysis of the incubation solutions showed that the main decomposition product was H-X-peptide derived from each pGlu-X-peptide by the removal of pGlu. The results revealed that the pGlu-X peptide bond had higher susceptibility than various internal amide bonds in the five peptides examined, including the Trp-Ser bond in Gn-RH, the C-terminal Asn-NH2 in d-NMU-8, and the Asp-Pro bond in PH, whose acid susceptibility is well known. Thus, mild hydrolysis with high concentrations of aqueous MSA may be applicable to chemically selective removal of pGlu from pGlu-X-peptides for structural examinations.
使用
水溶性
甲磺酸(M
SA)选择性
化学去除五种
生物活性脯
氨酸肽(pGlu-X-肽,X为位置2的
氨基酸残基)中的脯
氨酸残基的应用进行了研究。
促性腺激素释放激素(Gn-RH)、犬神经肽U-8(d-NMU-8)、物理肽(PH)、一种
缓激肽增效肽(
BPP-5a)和神经肽(NT)作为pGlu-X肽,在25°C下分别在70%或90%的
水溶性M
SA中进行孵育。孵育溶液的HPLC分析显示,主要的分解产物是由每个pGlu-X肽去除pGlu后产生的H-X肽。结果表明,pGlu-X肽的肽键对酸的敏感性高于所研究的五种肽中的各种内酰胺键,包括Gn-RH中的色
氨酸-
丝氨酸键、d-NMU-8中的C末端天冬酰胺-NH2键,以及PH中的
天冬氨酸-脯
氨酸键,其酸敏感性是众所周知的。因此,使用高浓度
水溶性M
SA的温和
水解可能适用于
化学选择性去除pGlu,以便进行结构研究。