MODIFICATION OF POLYPEPTIDES FOR CHARACTERISATION PURPOSES

摘要

Provided is a method of solubilising a polypeptide, which polypeptide is insoluble or sparingly soluble in an aqueous medium, which method comprises either: (a) contacting the polypeptide with a sequence specific cleavage agent in a non-aqueous medium, to produce a product which is soluble in an aqueous medium; or (b) contacting the polypeptide with a dicarboxylic anhydride to modify one or more amino groups in the polypeptide, to produce a product which is soluble in an aqueous medium. Also provided is a relational database comprising: (a) a table of parent polypeptide sequences; and (b) a table of peptides, which peptides are expected products of putative reactions of polypeptides from the table of polypeptides; wherein each of the parent polypeptide sequences is relatable by the database to one or more peptides from the table of peptides.