Holding to the axiom that the older I get the less I find out that I
know...I have a peptide that I would like to keep "fresh", ie. I don't want it
to "degrade" upon storage. Looking up ways that a peptide can degrade I
discovered that peptides that contain Asp residues can undergo racemization (my
peptide just so happens to contain Asp). Looking in various old musty organic
chem and biochemistry books I think I understand what racemization is. Now the
question is...what analytical technique do I use to determine if my peptide is
undergoing racemization? In theory, I would like to say it is 5% racemized
after X period of time and 15% racemized after Y period of time. I would guess
that I need to buy something called a polarimeter and it will give me a number
and I watch that number change over time. Can anyone help me out here? If a
polarimeter will indeed do the job does one use a single wavelength machine or
multiple wavelength? I have discovered three vendors: JASCO, Perkin Elmer and
Ruldolph Instruments, Inc. Any vendor preference? Do I need special cuvettes
or temp control or anything?
Weather Inconsequential: no mosquitoes, no thunderstorms that knock out the
electricity just when you need the sump pump to keep the basement dry and no
tornadoes. Just the occasional little ground tremor. No gophers/moles to
report this season.
Jim Bloom
Bayer Corp
Berkeley, CA
jim.bloom.b@bayer.com
510-705-7760
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