title: Native chemical ligation of polypeptides.
abstract: The total synthesis and semisynthesis of proteins allows the site-specific incorporation of unnatural amino acids, post-translational modifications, and biophysical/biochemical probes into the target molecule. Among the various chemical and enzymatic approaches available for the synthesis/semisynthesis of proteins, the native chemical ligation technique has proven especially useful and is the exclusive focus of this unit. This unit first discusses how to choose the ligation site(s) in the target protein and then outlines how to obtain the necessary polypeptide building blocks using either chemical synthesis or recombinant DNA expression. Next, the synthesis of a protein by native chemical ligation of two polypeptide fragments is described. The synthesis of a protein from three polypeptide fragments using a sequential native chemical ligation strategy is also described. Support protocols describe how to obtain the necessary polypeptide fragments using either chemical synthesis or recombinant DNA expression.
authors.affiliation: The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Camarero
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Muir
mesh_terms: D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D015202:Protein Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D011506:Proteins / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011506:Proteins