Multiple peptide synthesis on polypropylene membranes for rapid screening of bioactive peptides

A new multiple peptide synthesis technique that allows several hundred peptides to be synthesized on polypropylene membranes in one working day has been developed. Peptides are assembled as spots on a membrane sheet sandwiched between two 96-reaction well templates. Activity measurements can be made either with the membrane-bound peptides, for example, using an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), or after cleavage from the membrane. The method is simple and economical in the use of reagents, and peptides are of high quality, making possible the synthesis of rather long (> 20 residues) peptides. This method has been used to identify antigenic determinants recognized by antisera to bovine myelin proteolipid protein.