PEPTIDE-SYNTHESIS WITH A PROTEINASE FROM THE EXTREMELY THERMOPHILIC ORGANISM THERMUS RT41A

A proteinase isolated from Thermus Rt41A was immobilized to controlled pore glass beads and was used in the free and immobilized forms for peptide synthesis, The observed maximum yield was the same in both cases. A number of dipeptides were produced from amino acid esters and amides. The best acyl components, from those tested, were found to be Ac-Phe-OEt and Bz-Ala-OMe. Tyr-NH2, Trp-NH2, Phe-NH2, Leu-pNA, and Val-pNA were all reactive nucleophiles. The kinetically controlled synthesis of Bz-Ala-Tyr-NH, was optimized by studying the effect of pH, temperature, solvent concentration, ionic strength, and nucleophile and acyl donor concentration on the maximum yield. The initial conditions used were 25 mM Bz-Ala-OMe, 25 mM Tyr-NH2, 70 degrees C, pH 8.0, and 10% v/v dimethylformamide (DMF). The optimum conditions were 90% v/v DMF using 80 mM Bz-Ala-OMe and 615 mM Tyr-NH2 at 40 degrees C and pH 10. These conditions increased the maximum conversion from 0.75% to 26% (of the original ester concentration). In a number of other cosolvents, the best peptide yields were observed with acetonitrile and ethyl acetate. In 90% acetonitrile similar yields were observed to those in 90% DMF under optimized conditions except that the acyl donor and nucleophile concentrations could be reduced to 25 mM and 100 mM, respectively. The effect of the blocking group on the nucleophile was also investigated; -beta NA and -pNA as blocking groups improved the yields markedly. The blocking and leaving groups of the acyl donor had no effect on the dipeptide yield. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.