Article Title
Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis: Analysis and Identification of Protein Kinase Substrates
Abstract
This research study examines the synthesis of tyrosine containing peptides based on the protein paxillin. Paxillin is a proposed substrate of the Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) protein tyrosine kinase. FAK is overexpressed in tumor cells; therefore, its abnormal function is associated with several cancer types. The peptides designed here are based on the substrate sequence FAK preferably binds to and phosphorylates. Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis (SPPS) provided substrate compounds which were then tested via biological assays with FAK. The synthesis of large peptides provides an accurate method to determine kinase amino acid phosphorylation preference to confirm paxillin as a FAK substrate.