Total synthesis of insulin-like growth factor I (somatomedin C)

Human insulin-like growth factor I (somatomedin C) with 70 amino acid residues and three disulfide bridges has been synthesized by the solid-phase method. The synthetic product behaves as a pure polypeptide in paper electrophoresis, isoelectric focusing, and high-performance liquid chromatography, Its elution behavior in Sephadex G-50, isoelectric point, amino acid composition, and growth-stimulating activity in bovine adrenal cortical cells or granulosa cells are comparable to those reported for the natural product. In radioimmunoassay, the synthetic product is indistinguishable from the natural hormone when either synthetic or natural product is used as the labeled ligand.