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Some Mechanistic Aspects on Fmoc Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis

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International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Peptides are biomolecules that may have several biological activities which makes them important to the environment in which they operate. Sometimes it is necessary for larger amounts of peptides to carry out some studies, like biological tests, NMR structural research or even interaction studies between peptides with other molecules. Expression can be an alternative for that. However, synthesis is specially useful when unnatural modifications or introduction of site specific tags are required. Synthetic peptides have been used for different studies such as cell signaling, development of epitope-specific antibodies, in cell-biology, biomarkers for diseases etc. Many different methodologies for peptide synthesis can be found in the literature. Solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) has been largely used and can be an excellent alternative to achieve larger quantities of these biomolecules. In this mini review, we aim to describe the SPPS and explain some of the mechanistic aspects and reagents involved in all phases of the synthesis: the use of resin, the ninhydrin test, some of the protecting groups, coupling reagents for peptide bond formation and the cleavage process.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to Andrew William Gerard Murray for the English revision.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Compliance With Ethics

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia, Parque Estação Biológica PqEB Av. W5 Norte (Final), P.O. BOX 02372, Brasília, DF, 70770-917, Brazil

    Diego Arantes Teixeira Pires & Marcelo Porto Bemquerer

  2. Instituto de Química, Universidade de Brasília, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro Instituto de Química Asa Norte, P.O. BOX 04478, Brasília, DF, 70919-970, Brazil

    Diego Arantes Teixeira Pires & Claudia Jorge do Nascimento

  3. Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Goiás, Rua São Bartolomeu, Vila Esperança, Luziânia, GO, 72811-580, Brazil

    Diego Arantes Teixeira Pires

  4. Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Av. Pasteur, 458 – Urca, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 22290-240, Brazil

    Claudia Jorge do Nascimento

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  1. Diego Arantes Teixeira Pires
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  2. Marcelo Porto Bemquerer
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Correspondence to Claudia Jorge do Nascimento.

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Pires, D.A.T., Bemquerer, M.P. & do Nascimento, C.J. Some Mechanistic Aspects on Fmoc Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis. Int J Pept Res Ther 20, 53–69 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10989-013-9366-8

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