Development of a Maleimide Amino Acid for Use as a Tool for Peptide Conjugation and Modification
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abstract
An amino acid possessing a maleimide side chain was developed and synthesized in good yield. With a propensity to undergo the Michael addition reaction, the creation of a maleimide amino acid derivative was targeted for use as a highly functional tool for enabling peptide conjugation and structural modifications. After addressing the inherent potential side reactions of maleimides during solid phase peptide synthesis, the ability to incorporate the maleimide amino acid in an RGDS peptide sequence was demonstrated. 1H NMR and mass spectroscopic techniques enabled thorough characterization of the peptide sequence, confirming the presence of the maleimide functionality. Once characterized, the ability to use the maleimide moiety as a peptide modification tool was investigated. Specifically, it was shown that the maleimide functional group could be exploited, given the proper reaction conditions, to anchor a peptide to a surface and create a cyclic conformation from a linear sequence. Furthermore, bioactivity of the peptide containing maleimide amino acid was evaluated by studying cellular interactions with surfaces functionalized with an integrin binding sequence. 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.