Synthesis of a Hydrophilic Affinity Matrix for the Purification of the Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide Receptor

Abstract

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) was assembled on a polyacrylamide gel using a combination of the Boc and Fmoc peptide synthesis strategies. Before the synthesis, the polymeric matrix functionalized with sarcosine methylester was treated with ethylenediamine in order to form primary amine reaction sites (0.3 mmol/g). Then a six-carbon spacer arm, Boc-aminocaproic acid, was coupled to the gel after activation with benzotriazol-1-yloxytris(dimethylamino)phosphonium hexafluorophosphate (BOP) reagent. After acidolysis of the Boc protecting group, the derivative Boc-asparaginyl (xanthenyl)-4-(oxymethyl)phenylacetic acid was introduced into the polyacrylamide resin. Leucine-27 and isoleucine-26 were incorporated into the peptide chain as Boc-protected derivatives while the subsequent amino acids were all introduced as Fmoc residues. All couplings were achieved with BOP reagent in presence of diisopropylethylamine. The synthesis proceeded easily and only asparagine-9 required a double coupling step. After completion of the VIP assemblage, the side-chain protecting groups were removed by reaction with trifluoroacetic acid containing appropriate scavengers. A sample of peptide-resin was treated with hydrofluoric acid and the quality of the synthetic VIP-COOH material, obtained after cleavage, was assessed by reverse-phase HPLC and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry. The compatibility with aqueous solutions of the polyacrylamide resin loaded with VIP (0.15 mmol/g), as well as its ability to be utilized as an affinity matrix for VIP receptors, was demonstrated using solubilized receptor preparation made from porcine liver membrane. After a single-step affinity chromatography, no binding activity was anymore detectable in the pass-through fraction. Moreover, after elution of the bound material, a sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis revealed a single band with an M r of 53 kDa after either silver staining or radioiodination. The specificity of the affinity matrix was demonstrated by adding free VIP to the detergent extract prior to the loading onto the column. Under these conditions, no protein hand was detected after SDS-PAGE analysis.