Synthesis and properties of carbonylbis(methionyl)insulin, a proinsulin analogue which is convertible to insulin by cyanogen bromide cleavage.

The preparation and use of carbonylbis (L-methionine p-nitrophenyl ester) as a reversible cross-linking reagent for insulin are described. The reaction of 1 equiv of reagent with zinc insulin in dimethylformamide in the presence of triethylamine yields as one of the products NalphaA1, NepsilonB29-carbonylbis(methionyl)insulin, (CBM-insulin). The CBM-insulin was characterized by end group analysis and by the products formed on tryptic and chymotryptic cleavage. It possessed 91% of the immunological and 6.5% of the hormonal activity of insulin. Treatment of CBM-insulin with cyanogen bromide (CNBr) in 70% formic acid for 1 h resulted in nearly complete removal of the methionine bridge to yield insulin. A small amount of a side product was removed on DEAE-cellulose at pH 7.2 to give an overall recovery of insulin of 70-80%. Oxidative sulfitolyses of CBM-insulin gave the hexa(S-sulfonate) which was reduced with dithiothreitol to yield reduced CBM-insulin. The latter compound, containing 6 sulfhydryls, exhibited a pH-dependent circular dichroic spectrum. The form at pH 10 exhibited a spectrum typical of random coil which was converted to a form at pH 7.8 which was characterized by a negative extremum at 213 nm. The change in the spectrum at 213 nm with pH was characterized by an apparent pKa of 8.5. Studies on the reoxidation of reduced CBM-insulin were performed at pH values between 7.8 and 10 and at protein concentrations of 0.01-1 mg/ml. The best yields (ca. 85%) of the correctly paired disulfide bonds were obtained in reoxidations at pH 9.5-10 at protein concentration of 0.01-0.1 mg/ml. CBM-insulin, which had been isolated from reoxidation at high pH of the reduced CBM-insulin, was cleaved by CNBr to yield a fully active insulin in an overall yield of 60% from the reduced CBM-insulin.