title: Scandium(iii) triflate-promoted serine/threonine-selective peptide bond cleavage.
abstract: The site-selective cleavage of peptide bonds is an important chemical modification that is useful not only for the structural determination of peptides, but also as an artificial modulator of peptide/protein function and properties. Here we report site-selective hydrolysis of peptide bonds at the Ser and Thr positions with a high conversion yield. This chemical cleavage relies on Sc(iii)-promoted N,O-acyl rearrangement and subsequent hydrolysis. The method is applicable to a broad scope of polypeptides with various functional groups, including a post-translationally modified peptide that is unsuitable for enzymatic hydrolysis. The system was further extended to site-selective cleavage of a native protein, Aβ1-42, which is closely related to the onset of Alzheimer's disease.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. ysohma@mol.f.u-tokyo.ac.jp kanai@mol.f.u-tokyo.ac.jp and Japan Science Technology Agency (JST), ERATO Kanai Life Science Catalysis Project, 7-3-1 Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
authors.forename: Jizhi
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1968-1566
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. ysohma@mol.f.u-tokyo.ac.jp kanai@mol.f.u-tokyo.ac.jp and Japan Science Technology Agency (JST), ERATO Kanai Life Science Catalysis Project, 7-3-1 Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
authors.forename: Youhei
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1154-3903
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sohma
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. ysohma@mol.f.u-tokyo.ac.jp kanai@mol.f.u-tokyo.ac.jp and Japan Science Technology Agency (JST), ERATO Kanai Life Science Catalysis Project, 7-3-1 Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
authors.forename: Motomu
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1977-7648
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanai