Pseudoprolines as individual amino acids for “difficult” peptides synthesis
Peptide synthesis is one of the hotspots of the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry. Many of the Institute's key achievements are directly related to this area of work. One of the approaches to the synthesis of "die-hard" peptides is the use of serine, threonine and cysteine with special protection of side groups, which forms a five-membered heterocycle. Such derivatives of these amino acids are called "pseudoprolines" for their structural similarity to the corresponding amino acid. Usually, such protected amino acids are used in the form of dipeptides. Due to the low potential of the amino group to acylation, their one by one incorporation into the growing peptide chain is difficult. A recent article by the Department of Molecular Neuroimmune Signaling in the Amino Acids journal demonstrated the ability to synthesize "difficult" peptides using single derivatives of serine, threonine and cysteine in the form of protected pseudoprolines. This technical solution dramatically simplifies and reduces the cost of the synthesis of complex sequences compared to previously used dipeptide derivatives and makes such constructs generally available.
april 12, 2021