Biotage^® Initiator+ SP Wave

C-terminal peptide aldehydes are key components in oxime and hydrazine ligations and their synthesis is therefore very desirable. A well established method for the synthesis of C-terminal modified peptides including peptide aldehydes, is the backbone amide linker (BAL) strategy (Scheme 1). In this strategy, the first amino acid is anchored by reductive amination followed by acylation of the newly formed secondary amine. Thus, the growing peptide chain is anchored not through the C-terminal carboxyl but through a backbone amide nitrogen giving access to, in principle, any C-terminal modification.

Dr. Andrew Jamieson leads a team of peptide chemists at the University of Glasgow, where they synthesize complex molecules for chemical biology applications. An important tool that contributes to their success has been Biotage® Initiator+ Alstra™ microwave peptide synthesizer, and they are even breaking the dogma that only HPLC can be used for peptide purification, by using cutting edge reversed phase flash purification techniques provided by Biotage.

Dr. Aaron Muth from St. John’s University, Queens, New York speaks about his work in cancer research with Biotage lab equipment and specifically Biotage® Initiator+ Alstra™ and the SNAP Bio cartridges. As an Assistant Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, Dr. Muth and the members of his research group use this equipment every day. 

Red Glead Discovery is a pre-clinical drug discovery CRO offering a broad range of services to Life Science clients. With a focus on small molecules and peptides, their drug discovery platform ranges from medicinal chemistry and synthesis to ADME and biology. In addition to the CRO business, they also perform research collaborations with various biotech and academic partners. We met with Richard E. Johnsson, Ph.D., Head of Peptide Chemistry at Red Glead Discovery, Lund, Sweden, where he told us about using Biotage products in his workflow.

Tokyo based PeptiDream Inc. is a company specializing in non-standard peptide therapeutics containing non-standard amino acids, and conducts research and development of new drug candidates. PeptiDream uses the peptide synthesizers Syro I and Biotage® Initiator+ Alstra™ for the synthesis of various kinds of peptides to support drug discovery and development.

The study of peptides, especially for therapeutic use, has grown significantly in recent years. However, producing peptides for such research is challenging, not just in the synthesis. The molecules must be visualized to allow synthetic approaches to be designed, and after synthesis the purification and isolation of peptides is not straightforward. In order to address these challenges, Biotage has developed a holistic approach to the entire peptide workflow via an automated solution, designed for dedicated peptide researchers and those new to the field.