CHEMISTRY

BY RON MAGOLDA
Medical Products Department
E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co.
Wilmington, DeL

" This publication describes the first total synthesis of the potent immunosuppressant, (-)-FK-506.

T.K. Jones, 5.0. Mills, R.A. Reamer, D. Askin, et al, “Total synthesis of the immunosuppressant (-)-FK-506,” Journal of American Chemical Society Ul (3), 1157-1159, February 1, 1989.

( Alanine racemase, a pyridoxal 5’-phosphate containing enzyme, has been inhibited with a number of monohaloalanine suicide inactivators. A unique method of inactivation using trifluoroalanine that provides an alternative mechanism of inactivation.

W.S. Faraci, C.T. Walsh, “Mechanism ofinactivationofalanine racemase by b-trifluroralanine,” Biochemistry ,28 (2), 431-437, 24 January 1989.

Molecular biology cannot yet predict three-dimensional structure from a given amino acid sequence. Here, synthetic peptide fragments are linked to generate model proteins. This method will assist our understanding of protein folding and structure.

W.F. DeGrado, ZR. Wasserman, J.D. Lear, “Protein design, a minimalist...

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