Protease-Catalyzed Synthesis of a Precursor Dipeptide, Z-Asp-Val-NH₂ of Thymopentin, in Organic Solvents

Abstract

The protease-catalyzed, kinetically controlled synthesis of a precursor dipeptide, Z-Asp-Val-NH₂ of thymopentin (TP-5), in organic solvents was studied. Z-Asp-OMe and Val-NH₂ were used as the acyl donor and the nucleophile, respectively. An industrial alkaline protease alcalase was used to catalyze the synthesis of the target dipeptide in water-organic cosolvent systems. The conditions of the synthesis reaction were optimized by examining the effects of several factors, including organic solvents, water content, temperature, pH, and reaction time on the yield of Z-Asp-Val-NH₂. The optimum conditions using alcalase as the catalyst are pH 10.0, 35°C, in acetonitrile/Na₂CO₃-NaHCO₃ buffer system (9:1, V/V), reaction time 5 h, with a yield of 63%. The dipeptde product was confirmed by LC- MS.

Keywords:

• Alcalase
• Organic solvents
• Peptide synthesis
• Thymopentin

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Science and Technology Council, Jilin Province, China.