Isomerization and epimerization of the aspartyl tetrapeptide Ala-Phe-Asp-GlyOH at pH 10-A CE study

Isomerization and enantiomerization of Asp in the tetrapeptide Ala-Phe-Asp-GlyOH are studied at pH 10 and 80°C as well as 25°C. CE-MS allowed the distinction between α-Asp and β-Asp linkages in degradation products based on the ratio of the b and y fragment ions. Besides isomerization and enantiomerization of Asp, enantiomerization of Ala and Phe was also observed at both temperatures by chiral amino acid HPLC analysis using Marfey's reagent for derivatization. The rate of enantiomerization of the amino acids proceeded in the order Asp > Ala > Phe. The CE assay was validated with respect to linearity, LOQ, LOD, and precision and employed to characterize the time course of the degradation of the tetrapeptide upon incubation in borate buffer, pH 10. Isomerization to β-Asp peptides was identified as the major degradation reaction. The configuration of Asp or Ala affected the half-life of the starting peptide to a minor extent but did not influence the distribution of the individual products under equilibrium conditions at 80°C. Degradation at 25°C proceeded very slowly so that the equilibrium was not reached after 245 days.