Peptides are a short string of 2-50 amino acids that are the building blocks of protein. Made naturally by the body, they perform various essential functions within the human body and may have even formed cellular life on earth.

Peptide synthesis involves adding one amino acid at a time to make a short sequence of polypeptides. The process is beneficial when creating specific arrangements representing antigenic determinants, or epitopes, of particular protein domains that can be modified and are used by pharma companies to develop medicines and vaccines. Many companies now offer custom peptide synthesis technologies for the commercial production of peptides, allowing scientists to make orders online in bulk for their varying research needs and to use in pharmacology and molecular medicine.

Why are synthetic peptides used?

Synthetic peptides can be made very quickly, meaning that scientists don't have to worry about downstream purification or cell culture systems as they would with other proteins. This means that large quantities of peptides can be synthesized very quickly.
Unlike purified proteins that require a lot of preparation and time to generate enough material for experiments, the ease of large synthetic peptide production means that researchers can undertake more experiments quicker. Synthetic peptides, therefore, provide industry professionals with an unlimited scope when handling protein analytes.

Lastly, various elements, such as binding sites, can be isolated when using synthetic peptides. This isn't always possible when working with full-length proteins due to additional factors, motifs, or domains that can cause complications with these types of experiments.

What are they used for?

1.Drug research

Peptides, both natural or synthetically produced, are vital in researching and developing new medicines and continue to enter clinical development at a steady but rapid pace. Inexpensive and easy to produce, peptides have played a significant role in medical practice since the 1920s in insulin therapy. Various medicines now contain peptides to treat multiple diseases, including high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. Approved and rigorously regulated by the FDA, there are 100+ peptide drugs currently available in the United States today, thanks to custom peptide synthesis, with more on the way as studies unfold.

2.Generating custom antibodies

Generating custom antibodies is one of the primary uses of synthetic peptides, stimulating many immune responses when coupled with carrier proteins, which create antibodies. This process allows researchers to control determinants a lot easier compared to a whole protein. Antibodies that are peptide-based are perfect when used in Western blots, a laboratory method used to detect specific protein molecules.

3.Mass spectrometry

Synthesized peptides are also used to aid in identification and quantitation in mass spectrometry - an analytical technique used to analyze proteins, and are frequently used in applications such as proteomics. When a protein is diagnosed, it can be hard to assess the resulting peptides as the mass spec peak relies on the peptides' concentration and chemical makeup. Synthetic peptides help identify these peaks thanks to their production of identical patterns in the mass spectrometry spectrum as native peptides, only counterbalanced by the difference in molecular weight based on the used isotopes.

4.Vaccines

Synthetic peptides are frequently used to test host responses to vaccines, such as SARS-CoV-2. These peptide vaccines then serve to immunize an organism against pathogens and mimic naturally occurring proteins, evoking very efficient and specific immune responses to help the body recognize the denatured protein form. Many companies harness this power, creating vaccines containing lab-made strands of DNA or RNA. Once the vaccine delivers this genetic material into the body, the cells follow the genetic instructions to make viral proteins and protect them against the specific virus/disease.

5.Diagnostics

Synthetic peptides are a great diagnostic tool and can reveal certain conditions in the body, reacting to the environment around them. Doctors can give their patients peptides to confirm toxins and viruses, which work by changing color under the microscope whenever a virus is present. They are also used to determine how the natural peptides in your body are functioning.

Notable pros

● A notable advantage of synthetic peptides is that they can be generated as various chemical modifications and precise copies of protein fragments. This includes modifying the peptide structure and integrating an extensive range of non-proteinogenic amino acids.
● Depending on their use, synthetic peptides can be incredibly cost-effective, especially when it comes to applications requiring peptides that are 20-50 amino acids long. Because of this, there are many companies that researchers can pay to carry out this process, saving time and money in comparison to gene cloning.
● Peptide synthesis is precise, allowing scientists to control their composition precisely without worrying about the complexity of the biological matrix.
● They are essential when developing and researching new medicines and vaccines and can help many patients with hormone production and good functioning of the immune system. They are also known to positively impact the performance of natural peptides already in the body, are easy to produce, and are inexpensive.

Wrapping up

Peptides can now be easily and quickly synthesized on large scales and involve adding an amino acid to make a short sequence of polypeptides. Used in mass spectrometry, creating vaccines, and generating custom antibodies, synthesized peptides are essential for drug research and creating new pharmaceuticals, helping to diagnose and treat patients.