Enzymes peptide synthesis

Hailing, P. J., Eichhorn, U., Kuhl, R, and Jakubke, H.-D. (1995). Thermodynamics of solid-to-solid conversion and application to enzymic peptide synthesis. Enzyme Microb. TechnoL, 17, 601-6. 

There are several other examples of enzyme peptide synthesis. The conversion of porcine insulin into a human insulin precursor, by replacing the B chain C-terminal with threonine, is still an important alternative to microbially produced human insulin. Peptides that are produced from ethyl esters of L-amino acids by BioEurope are used as ingredients of cosmetics. 

Hailing PJ, Eichhorn U, Khul P et til. (1995) Thennodyntimics of soUd-to-soUd conversion and appUcation to enzymic peptide synthesis. Enzyme Microb Technol 17 601-606 Hamel E, CoveU DG (2002) Antimitotic peptides and depsipeptides. Curr Med Chem Anti-Ctmcer... 

Memfield successfully automated all the steps m solid phase peptide synthesis and computer controlled equipment is now commercially available to perform this synthesis Using an early version of his peptide synthesizer m collaboration with coworker Bemd Gutte Memfield reported the synthesis of the enzyme ribonuclease m 1969 It took them only SIX weeks to perform the 369 reactions and 11 391 steps necessary to assemble the sequence of 124 ammo acids of ribonuclease... 

There are two basic strategies for enzyme-catalyzed peptide synthesis equiUbrium- and kineticaHy controlled synthesis. The former is the direct reversal of proteolysis and involves the condensation of an amino component with unactivated carboxyl component. The latter proceeds by the aminolysis of an activated peptide ester. 

For the equiUbrium-controUed enzyme-catalyzed peptide synthesis the equiUbrium position Hes far over in the direction of the hydrolysis, and under physiological conditions, the product yield is negligible. The equiUbrium position is deterrnined exclusively by thermodynamic factors and like any other catalysts the enzymes only accelerate the attainment of the equiUbrium. 

Murakami, Y. Functionaiited Cyclophanes as Catalysts and Enzyme Models. 115, 103-151 (1983). Mutter, M., and Pillai, V. N. R. New Perspectives in Polymer-Supported Peptide Synthesis. 106, 119-175 (1982). 

Reversed micelles have also shown to be useful not only in bioconversions, but also in organic synthesis. Shield et al. (1986) have reviewed this subject and brought out its advantages in peptide synthesis, oxidation or reduction of steroids, selective oxidation of isomeric mixtures of aromatics, etc. In the oxidation of aromatic aldehydes to carboxylic acids with enzymes hosted in reverse micelles, the ortho substituted substrates react much more slowly than other isomers. 

The role of reversed micelles in the manufacture of fine chemicals with enzymes also needs to be assessed and analysed. An outstanding example is lipase catalysed interesterification to produce cocoa butter substitute from readily available cheap materials (Luisi, 1985). This example of reversed micelles is sometimes referred to as a colloidal solution of water in organic systems. A number of water insoluble alkaloids, prostanoids, and steroids have been subjected to useful transformations (Martinek et al., 1987). Peptide synthesis has also been conducted. The advantages of two liquid phases are retained to a very great extent the amount of water can be manipulated to gain advantages from an equilibrium viewpoint. 

Since the beginning of the 20th century, organic solvents have been used in enzymatic reaction media [30]. Biocatalytic reactions in water-organic biphasic media were first carried out by Cremonesi et al. [31] and by Buckland et al. [32] less than 30 years ago. Their work aimed at the conversion of high concentrations of poorly water soluble components, particularly steroids. Later, biphasic systems were used for enzyme-catalyzed synthesis reactions that were unfavored in water, changing the reaction equilibrium towards the higher yield of the product, such as esters or peptides. 

The pore size of porous titania can be up to 2000 A. Titania is used for the purification of proteins and as a support for bound enzymes. The purification of /1-lactoglobulin from cheese whey, of protease from pineapple, /5-lactamase, and amylase can be achieved with titania. The latter two purifications are impossible on alumina. Titania is also used as a support in peptide synthesis. The separation of plasmid DNA is shown in Figure 3.24. 

It is interesting to note that serine peptidases can, under special conditions in vitro, catalyze the reverse reaction, namely the formation of a peptide bond (Fig. 3.4). The overall mechanism of peptide-bond synthesis by peptidases is represented by the reverse sequence f-a in Fig. 3.3. The nucleophilic amino group of an amino acid residue competes with H20 and reacts with the acyl-enzyme intermediate to form a new peptide bond (Steps d-c in Fig. 3.3). This mechanism is not relevant to the in vivo biosynthesis of proteins but has proved useful for preparative peptide synthesis in vitro [17]. An interesting application of the peptidase-catalyzed peptide synthesis is the enzymatic conversion of porcine insulin to human insulin [18][19]. 

Stehle, P, Bahsitta, H. P., and Piirst, P. (1986). Analytical control of enzyme-catalyzed peptide-synthesis using capillary isotachophoresis.. Chromatogr. 370, 131—138. 

A thiazolium amino acid (Taz) has been developed which can be utilized to mimic TDP-dependent enzyme function [52]. In this strategy, illustrated in Fig. 15, the commercially available amino acid 4-thiazolylalanine is incorporated into peptides by solid phase peptide synthesis. Prior to deprotection of the amino acid side chains and cleavage of the peptide from the resin, the thiazole amino acid is alkylated with an alkyl halide to generate the corresponding thiazolium amino acid having various N3-substituents (BzTaz = 3-benzyl-Taz, NBTaz = 3-nitrobenzyl-Taz). 

During peptide synthesis, the reactions catalysed by the various aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases must occur repetitively for each amino acid. Simplicity in regulation is provided by the fact that all these different synthetases are saturated with their respective amino acids, that is, the values of all the synthetases for their respective amino acids must be much lower than the concentrations of the amino acids, so that the enzyme activity is regulated solely by the changes in concentration of the co-substrates, i.e. the free tRNAs. This property, together with external regulation at steps 2 and 7, provides a relatively simple mecha-... 

Use of Proteases in Peptide Synthesis. Typically peptides are synthesized the standard solid or liquid phase methodologies (56, 57). However, both of these techniques require harsh chemical reactions which are detrimental to certain amino acids. Furthermore, in practical terms most peptide syntheses are limited to the range of 30 to 50 amino acid residues. Hence, peptide synthesis is still somewhat problematic in many cases. In certain situations, the alternative method of peptide synthesis using proteases is an attractive choice. With this form of synthesis, one can avoid the use of the noxious and hazardous chemicals used in solid or liquid phase peptide synthesis. Since the reactions are enzyme catalyzed, racemization of the peptide bond does not occur. This technique has been used with success in the synthesis and semisynthesis of several important peptides including human insulin (55,59). 

As discussed above, proteases are peptide bond hydrolases and act as catalysts in this reaction. Consequently, as catalysts they also have the potential to catalyze the reverse reaction, the formation of a peptide bond. Peptide synthesis with proteases can occur via one of two routes either in an equilibrium controlled or a kinetically controlled manner 60). In the kinetically controlled process, the enzyme acts as a transferase. The protease catalyzes the transfer of an acyl group to a nucleophile. This requires an activated substrate preferably in the form of an ester and a protected P carboxyl group. This process occurs through an acyl covalent intermediate. Hence, for kineticmly controlled reactions the eii me must go through an acyl intermediate in its mechanism and thus only serine and cysteine proteases are of use. In equilibrium controlled synthesis, the enzyme serves omy to expedite the rate at which the equilibrium is reached, however, the position of the equilibrium is unaffected by the protease. 

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