title: Convergent solid-phase synthesis of hirudin.
abstract: Hirudin variant 1 (HV1), a small protein consisting of 65 amino acids and three disulfide bonds, was synthesized by using Fmoc-based convergent methods on 2-chlorotrityl resin (CLTR). The linear sequence was assembled by the sequential condensation of 7 protected fragments, on the resin-bound 55-65 fragment. The conditions of fragment assembly were carefully studied to determine the most efficient synthetic protocol. Crude reduced [Cys(16, 28)(Acm)]-HV1 thus obtained was easily purified to homogeneity by RP-HPLC. Disulfide bridges were successfully formed by a two-step procedure, involving an oxidative folding step to form Cys(6)-Cys(14) and Cys(22)-Cys(39) linkages, followed by iodine oxidation to form the Cys(16)-Cys(28) bond. The correct disulfide bond alignment was established by peptide mapping using Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease at pH 4.5.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Spyros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goulas
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gatos
authors.forename: Kleomenis
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Barlos
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D006629:Hirudins / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D006629:Hirudins; D010446:Peptide Fragments