Synthesis of High Molecular Weight Peptide Polymers and Copolymers Containing L-Dope Residues.

The sea mussel M. edulis utilizes a polyphenolic protein in its adhesive plaque which contains tandem repeats of variants of a decapeptide sequence. We have chemically synthesized members of several families of peptides glue peptides related to a consensus decapeptide sequence and have established methods for cleaving and purifying significant amounts of each. Chemical polymerization of model peptides using diphenylphosphorylazide activation has concurrently been studied in preparation for polymerization and lap shear adhesive strength tests for the glue peptides being synthesized. An evaluation of an alternative production method for polypeptides with repeating amino acid sequences has also begun using recombinant DNA techniques. Several expression vectors based on the regulatable lambda P sub L promoter have been developed. Gene cassettes coding for analogues to the polyphenolic protein or collagen have been designed and prepared, and have been or are being cloned for expression studies. Expression studies with a cloned collagen analogue gene have been revealed several potential drawbacks to high level microbial expression of genes with repeating amino acid sequences which are being addressed.