Kirkendoll, J. A.; Targino Campos, L.; Taylor, E. G.; Murata, R. M.; Hughes, R. M.

Recombinant peptide production was pioneered in the 1970s for the generation of therapeutic peptides, with notable examples including insulin and somatostatin. These early methods required the use of cyanogen bromide (BrCN) for cleavage of the native peptide sequence from a fusion protein. Since that time, while numerous BrCN-dependent peptide methods continue to be reported, the accessibility and cost of site-specific proteases have improved dramatically. These developments have enabled alternative approaches to recombinant peptide generation that obviate the need for BrCN, an environmentally destructive toxin. We recently created an immobilized SUMO protease that can replace BrCN usage in recombinant peptide production workflows by releasing native peptides expressed as part of a SUMO-peptide fusion protein. We have used this approach to generate P113 peptide, the minimal active fragment of the antifungal peptide Histatin 5. In this report, we describe the creation and characterization of this immobilized SUMO protease and its application in the production of experimentally viable quantities of active P113 peptide.