Category: Product Spotlight

Usefulness in Laboratories

In a cellular setting, peptides are used for all kinds of fascinating purposes. This includes transporting other molecules, ensuring that templates are cut to the proper size, and accelerating all kinds of chemical reactions. Under laboratory conditions, these capacities can be used in many kinds of research. For example, many times researchers want to know where a specific molecule will wind up in a cell. In order to achieve this goal, they can simply attach a peptide tag to the molecule and then use various stains to make the entire complex show up under a microscope.

Peptides are also ideal for cutting nucleic acids and probing the structure of proteins. No matter whether a biologist wants to work on gene sequencing or study the way certain proteins change in a malignant cell, peptides can be of immense use. You will also find that synthetic peptides are very useful for joining bits of genetic information together to form a new organism, or even splicing genes that will produce synthetic proteins.

Equipment Used to Study and Manufacture Synthetic Peptides

It is fair to say that a well equipped cellular biology lab should be able to produce a reasonable quantity of pure synthetic peptides. On the other hand, actually describing that process and how it works can fill several volumes. As with the processes that go on inside of a cell, you are best served by having a basic overview of the procedure as well as the main pieces of equipment involved. At the very least, if you find that some elements of the routine differ from one lab to another, you will still be able to see how it all fits together.

Fundamental Equipment

After a peptide has been isolated, researchers must determine which amino acids are used to create the complete molecule. Depending on the lab, the template used to create new amino acids can be obtained from stripping genetic material of its protective layer and isolating the required template. Today, many labs make use of a resin or other type of non-reactive matrix to align amino acids.

Centrifuges

Plant or animal based tissues are combined with water and various reagents that break cells apart while being spun in the centrifuge. As this process continues, lighter materials are increasingly separated from heavier ones. Typically, spinning at higher rates of speed or for longer periods of time will result in a larger number of bands within the centrifuge tube. These devices can be used to isolate peptides, nucleic acid templates, and just about any other material required at any given stage of a project.

Electrophoresis Gels

During the process of isolating peptides and developing synthetic molecules, it is very important to make sure that the finished product is pure and consistent. Electrophoresis gels are ideal because they create patterned color bands that easily reveal impurities as well as concentrations of any given molecule. Electrophoresis units can also be very useful when it comes to seeing how variations of any given peptide compare in terms of molecular weight, or even in relation to a control solution.

Resin Matrices

It is very important to realize that modern researchers cannot duplicate the endoplasmic reticulum let alone a ribosome. As a result, making peptides isn’t as simple as shaking up some nucleic acids in the presence of amino acids and hoping the molecules will sort themselves out. Instead, researchers must use various reagents and a support structure to mimic a natural environment. Modern researchers usually use resin matrices as well as other non-reactive structures that allow amino acids to assemble in the proper orientations.

Cleaving Reagents

Perhaps it is best to say that creating synthetic peptides is not so different from weaving a rug. In order to achieve this goal, yarn or some other material must be passed through a network that stabilizes the pattern. Eventually, if the rug is to be of any use, it must eventually be cut free of the network and equipment. When it comes to synthetic peptides, cleaving reagents are used to separate newly formed peptides from the resin matrix. From there, they can be suspended in an aqueous solution, or used in any number of other experiments.

Types of Ligation

Historically speaking, researchers have used a number of different “ligation” methods to create synthetic peptides. The three most common methods are native chemical ligation, expressed protein ligation, and Staudinger ligation. Even though expressed protein ligation tends to be more common, researchers are still looking for methods that will yield higher amounts of usable synthetic peptides. Since Staudinger ligation is a newer, more effective method, it may soon replace expressed protein ligation.

Click here for the next article

For the rest of the series and the resources used click here

A popular peptide purchased in our store is Melanotan 2, click the link to view the product page.

*Our products are for scientific research purposes only. (Click here to read our disclaimer)

Click here to view the homepage of our store

Click here to view our entire PDF research library

Click here to view or download this article in PDF format

Financial Cost

Consider a situation where you are studying lab rats and hypothesize that Peptide A causes a particular rodent to get sick when eating a specific kind of cheese. Once you isolate this particular peptide from the rodent, you will need to be able to follow the scientific method in order to prove your hypothesis.

This will include running a number of tests to prove that Peptide A is the cause of the rodent’s problem instead of some other factor. If you have to purchase and care for other rodents, plus keep trying to isolate Peptide A from all of them, it will cost a fortune. At the very least, if you create a synthetic version of Peptide A, you can study it in less expensive settings during the earlier stages.

Sample Purity and Research Development

Within the cellular environment, a single molecule can create an endless number of changes. Therefore, when it comes to trying to study peptides, you may have a difficult time isolating them from cells in sufficient quantity.

In addition, no matter how careful you are during the isolation process, you may wind up making mistakes that cause impurities in the peptide stock solution. Needless to say, this can easily cause you to get all the wrong results later on in your research efforts.

By contrast, when you create synthetic peptides, the process involved will yield only that particular peptide. As an added bonus, if you want to try changing a few amino acids, or even their position within the peptide, you can do so with ease. You may even find that using variations will help you predict what would happen in a natural cell, or in a complex organism at a later time.

Ethical Issues

Have you ever been mildly offended to hear a doctor say that animal studies imply nothing about what will happen to a human being taking any given medication? Did you feel even more upset when news was released indicating that your concerns were valid? While modern science has come a long way, it is sad to say that animal studies are performed over and over again, only to have the information ignored.

Even though you may not realize it, the vast majority of lab animals are killed at the end of any given experiment. In many cases, these animals suffer in excruciating pain, are denied proper food and hydration, or are forced to remain tied up so that various processes can be “studied”. To add insult to injury, many lab animals are killed in inhumane ways in order to prevent other chemicals from interfering with the gathering of tissue samples. Regardless of whether a frog or fish is pithed or a dog heart stuck, the vast majority of people would choose some other way to gather information, or simply not have it at all.

When it comes to studying peptides, synthetic ones can easily be studied in cellular environments or even in lab grown tissue samples. As computer models and other simulated models become more accurate, it becomes easier to end reliance on lab animals. Using synthetic peptides can speed up this process as well as reduce the number of animals that suffer because of research methods based largely upon human ignorance.

Click here for the next article

Click here to view our research chemical section, where you can find research chemicals like Clenbuterol 200mcg per ml

For the rest of the series and the resources used click here

*Our products are for scientific research purposes only. (Click here to read our disclaimer)

Click here to view the homepage of our store

Click here to view our entire PDF research library

Click here to view or download this article in PDF format

How are They Created by Nature

In order to be organized into peptides and proteins, cells must arrange amino acids based on a template. Once the amino acids are organized into an appropriate structure, they are released from the template and moved to other locations within or outside the cell.

Needless to say, the process that converts amino acids into functional peptides is as fascinating as it is complicated. If you keep a few basic steps in mind, it will be much easier to remember and understand how they fit into the overall structure of cell function and the capacity to carry out basic life needs.

Cellular Machinery

There are two basic organelles required to make peptides. First, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a ribbon like organelle that runs throughout the cell. It acts as an anchor point as well as transmission channel for completed proteins and peptides. Depending on the phase any given cell is in, the ER may be involved in producing proteins and peptides or some other molecule.

Ribosomes (small granular organelles) attach to the endoplasmic reticulum and assemble peptides based on a template that feed through them. At this stage, the ER is often referred to as “rough” since ribosomes can be seen attached to it under a microscope. Typically, ribosomes will not bond to the ER unless the ribosomes are already bound to a template. Interestingly enough, the start and stop sequences on any given template are composed of peptides that facilitate bonding or breaking away from the ER.

The Template

If you have done any research on protein, genetic material, and peptide synthesis, then you may already realize that a special set of nucleic acids are used to form templates. For example, if the origin template utilizes RNA, the four nucleic acids involved are adenine, cytosine, guanine, and uracil. If the cell uses DNA for its genetic material, uracil is exchanged for thymine.

No matter whether the cell makes use of RNA or DNA, ribosomes cannot simply attach to the chromosome and begin transcribing proteins. Instead, special peptides and other molecules attach to the genetic material and create copies, or transcriptions of the required template pieces. Typically, this process will start at a specific code within the nucleic acid, and then end at a different point. Even though messenger RNA and transfer RNA are still formed from nucleic acids, they are able to bond with, and act as the template for arranging amino acids within ribosomes.

Why Manufacture Synthetic Peptides

There is no question that there are billions of molecules of peptides available in nature. On the other hand, gaining access to pure quantities of them can be very difficult. This is just one of many reasons why researchers are increasingly relying on ways to manufacture synthetic peptides. While discovering brand new ones still requires the usage of organic, living cells, producing them in useful quantities tends to make it easier to go past that point.

Click here for the next article

For the rest of the series and the resources used click here

*Our products are for scientific research purposes only. (Click here to read our disclaimer)

Click here to view the homepage of our store

Click here to view our entire PDF research library

Click here to view or download this article in PDF format