State-of-the-Art Peptide Synthesis: Comparative Characterization of a 16-mer Synthesized in 31 Different Laboratories

Publisher Summary The Association of Biomolecular Core Facilities (ABRF) has 184 core facilities engaged in the synthesis and/or structural analysis of proteins and/or nucleic acids. Peptide synthesis is a combination of several functions including synthesis, cleavage, purification, and characterization of the final product. Each of these functions poses specific problems that impact the quality of the final product. The mechanism for evaluating the interrelationship of these various functions was to ask that the member laboratories synthesize a 16 residue peptide of predetermined sequence by their preferred chemistry. Analysis of the purified product provides a monitor of purification techniques. Each of the 61 samples that was received were subjected to a battery of analytical techniques including amino acid analysis, HPLC, capillary electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, and biological assay as the peptide was designed to be a substrate for at least two different protein kinases. It was anticipated that these analyses would help to identify optimal methods for characterizing synthetic peptides as well as provide data regarding common side-products and reactions that may occur during peptide synthesis.