The selective isolation of an active-site histidine peptide from chymotrypsin-alpha by diagonal peptide 'mapping'. An N-tau-carboxymethylhistidine diagonal peptide "mapping.".

1. The selective isolation of an ;active' histidine peptide from reduced and cyanoethylated chymotrypsin-alpha inhibited with Tos-Phe-CH(2)Cl (l-1-tosylamido-2-phenylethyl chloromethyl ketone) was obtained with a His(tauCm) (N(tau)-carboxymethylhistidine) diagonal peptide-;mapping' technique. Performic acid vapours, used between the first and second dimensions of the diagonal peptide ;map', resulted in a peracid rearrangement of the alkylated (Tos-Phe-CH(2))-histidine-57 residue into an N(tau)-carboxymethylhistidine residue. The consequent change in electrophoretic mobility allowed isolation of peptides that contained the ;active' histidine. 2. Peptides containing methionine or S-cyanoethylcysteine were oxidized to their sulphones during the treatment. Peptides in which these residues were N-terminal were selectively isolated on the basis of the change in electrophoretic mobility at pH6.5 which was due to the depression of the pK of the terminal amino group by the inductive effect of the sulphonyl group. 3. An attempt to apply the method to subtilisin BPN' inhibited with l-1-benzyloxycarbonylamido-2-phenylethyl bromomethyl ketone failed to yield a peptide containing N(tau)-carboxymethylhistidine, although peptides containing N-terminal methionine were isolated by the procedure.