Chemical Synthesis of Human β-Defensin (hBD)-1, -2, -3 and -4: Optimization of the Oxidative Folding Reaction

Reduced human β-defensin (hBD)-1, -2, -3 and -4 synthesized by Boc chemistry were subjected to oxidative folding reaction under optimal conditions. Among the factors affecting the oxidative folding in the presence of reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG), the buffer concentration and reaction temperature were essential for the predominant formation of the native disulfide structure. The homogeneity of the four synthetic hBDs was confirmed by analytical procedures using RP-HPLC, IEX-HPLC, capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and MALDI-TOF MS as well as sequencing, although high temperature (70 °C) was used for the RP-HPLC analysis of hBD-3 and hBD-4 to exclude the influence of equilibrium with the respective conformers having native disulfide pairing. All synthetic hBDs were shown to possess the native disulfide structure by sequential analyses and mass measurements with cystine segments obtained by enzymatic digestion. Upon digestion of hBD-1 and hBD-4 with proline specific endopeptidase, the Cys-X bond was found to be reproducibly cleaved together with the Pro-X bond although the cleavage of Cys-X afforded the appropriate cystine segments for determining the disulfide structure of hBD-1 and hBD-4. With respect to antimicrobial activity against E. coli, the four synthetic hBDs of high homogeneity possessed the same potencies as those reported previously.Australian Peptide Conference Issue