Enzymatic semisynthesis of aprotinin homologues mutated in P′ positions

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Abstract
The replacement of amino acids in the P′1 and P′2 position of aprotinin, the bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor, is described. Using the “modified” inhibitor as starting material, with the hydrolyzed reactive-site peptide bond Lys15-Ala16, the residues P′1 (Ala16) and P′2 (Arg17) were split off by the action of aminopeptidase K. Incorporation of suitable dipeptides containing a basic residue (Lys or Arg) in the C-terminal position was carried out in a “one pot” reaction involving trypsin-catalyzed coupling. In this way, the native fragment Ala16-Arg17 was reintroduced and also replaced by Gly-Arg, Ala-Lys, and Leu-Arg yielding intact inhibitor molecules. The mechanism for incorporation of dipeptides was investigated by treating the aprotinin derivative with the Arg17-Ile18 peptide bond hydrolyzed with trypsin under proteosynthetic conditions. We established that only inhibitor molecules cleaved between Lys15 and Xaa16 are intermediates leading to the desired products. The inhibitory properties of the new aprotinin homologues were tested, and the significance of the P′1 residue for the inhibition of trypsin, kallikrein, and chymotrypsin was deduced.