JMS Letters

摘要

Beta-aspartate (b-Asp) is an uncommon amino acid that incorporates into a protein or peptide by inserting a b-carboxyl group into polypeptide backbone, leaving an a-carboxyl group as a side chain. b-Asp can be spontaneously generated in vivo and in vitro by the deamidation of asparagine[1] and the isomerization of a-aspartate reactions.[2] These reactions can occur under physiological conditions or during storage andpurification processes and formation of b-Asp can induce complete or partial loss of protein function. For this reason, peptides containing b-Asp have been synthesized and developed as drugs for particular therapies[3,4].Therefore, rapid and effective methods for distinguishing Asp isomers in proteins are required for monitoring protein isomeric transduction processes and for better utilizing specific peptides in pharmaceutical applications.