Amino acids and peptides. XXVII. Synthesis of phytochelatin-related peptides and examination of their heavy metal-binding properties.

Abstract
Phytochelatin (PC)-related peptides were prepared by a conventional solution method and their heavy metal-binding properties were examined. Different from the Cu2+ and Cu+-binding properties of metallothionein (MT)-related peptides, the Cu2+ and Cu+-binding properties of PC-related peptides were fairly dependent on structure. It is of interest that γ-Glu-Cys-Gly (glutathione) exhibited quite different Cu2+ and Cu+-binding properties from those of other PC-related peptides and its binding abilities were comparable to those of MT-related peptides. The Cd 2+-binding properties of glutathione were similar to those of Cys, and the Cd2+-binding abilities of PC-related peptides increased in proportion to the increase of γ-Glu-Cys peptide unit.

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