Synthesis of Gastrointestinal Hormones Using Organic Chemical or Recombinant DNA Techniques

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of synthesis of gastrointestinal hormones using organic, chemical, or recombinant DNA techniques. Synthetic replicates of regulatory peptides and their analogs, including agonists and antagonists, are essential substrates in the investigation of the molecular basis of the physiological significance of the peptides. The chemical environments that exist in different regions of peptides are crucial for their specific biological activities. This requires a series of different synthetic fragments and analogs to examine systematically the potential factors involved in the binding and displacement of these peptides with their specific receptors. Apart from that, the synthetic replicates and their fragments are utilized as important haptenic immunogens to produce region-specific antibodies to the respective peptides and for the characterization of antibodies obtained. The chapter discusses synthetic replicates of gastrointestinal hormones. One major problem in the isolation of peptides from the gastrointestine tract is that the content and yields are extremely low. The chapter also describes the synthesis of peptides based on the amino acid sequences which is deduced from hormone precursor structures and reviews some immunochemical studies on gastrointestinal hormones using synthetic replicates, fragments, and analogs. It further describes the synthesis of gastrointestinal hormones by recombinant DNA techniques.