Advanced Microwave-Assisted Peptide Synthesis for Research on Smart Biomaterials
Abstract
Peptides are commonly utilized in biomaterials and drug delivery. They can serve both structural and therapeutic roles in various ap,plications. The most common method for producing peptides is solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS). However, traditional SPPS approac,hes have many limitations, including lengthy coupling times and low coupling efficiencies for certain amino acids, and excessive was,te production. Heating methods have been used to circumvent several of these limitations. However, traditional heating approaches us,ing heating blocks and external heat sources are not optimal, leading to heterogeneous heating and various undesired products. Micro,wave-assisted peptide synthesis instead offers an excellent approach to efficiently produce high purity peptides. Microwave heating,results in an instantaneous, homogeneous localized heating during synthesis, which can increase reaction rates significantly for sev,eral difficult to synthesize peptides. We have proposed the acquisition of a state-of-the-art microwave-assisted peptide synthesizer,, the CEM Liberty Blue. The CEM Liberty Blue uses custom CarboMAX coupling chemistry, which is carbodiimide based, but yields higher, crude purities than traditional approaches. We customized this synthesizer to integrate the HT12 resin loader, which will enable hi,gh throughput synthesis without user intervention of 12 distinct peptides. Additionally, a Razor cleavage system has also been integ,rated, which allows rapid cleavage of the 12 peptide products. Overall, this acquisition will enhance the production of peptides in,the PIs laboratory to advance the research that is being done in the PIs lab on the development of smart antimicrobial materials f,or force health protection, and to enable the PI to enter new areas of DOD relevance (e.g., traumatic brain injury). Neither this in,strument nor any microwave-assisted peptide synthesis technology is currently available at Brown University. Acquisition of this equ,ipment will enhanceDOD-relevant research and open up research opportunities for investigators and trainees working in DOD-relevant r,esearch areas, as well as new research-related educational opportunities. In addition, work performed under this proposal is Fundame,ntal Research, and is to develop technology for both military and civil application.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2022
- Source ID
- N000142212362
Entities
People
- Anita Shukla
Organizations
- Brown University
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy