The Synthesis of Protected Peptide Fragments of a Staphylococcal Nuclease

In this article, Anfinsen's team from the Laboratory of Chemical Biology at the NIAMD became the first to report that they had determined the total amino acid sequence of an extracellular nuclease of Staphylococcus aureus, which consisted of a single chain of 149 amino acid residues. They also noted that organic synthesis of the polypeptide chain of the nuclease would be of value in the direct study of catalytic and binding properties, and of factors determining tertiary structure. The proposed plan for synthesis involved assembling the chain through successive couplings of protected peptide fragments to the free alpha-amino group of protected C-terminal sequence. In this article, residue 43 was mistakenly identified as glutamine, instead of glutamic acid; A subsequent article would correct this error.