[A21-Asparaginimide] insulin. Saponification of insulin hexamethyl ester, I

[Asn A21]Insulin is formed as the main product during alkaline saponification of insulin hexamethyl ester. Purification was achieved by gel chromatography followed by ion-exchange chromatography on carboxymethyl cellulose at pH 4 or by preparative isoelectric focusing in a granulated gel over a narrow pH range. Two main products could be isolated. One of them showed the electrophoretic behaviour of insulin (A), whilst the other corresponded to insulin with a blocked carboxyl function (B). Incubation of this product B with carboxypeptidase A liberated only the C-terminal alanine of the B-chain, but not the asparagine of the C-terminus of the A-chain. Chymotryptic digestion of the isolated S-sulfonate A-chain derivative (C) followed by high-voltage electrophoresis confirmed that the carboxyl function of asparagine A21 was blocked. In order to determine the free carboxyl functions of the A-chain derivative C, it was coupled with glycine methyl ester yielding D. Amino acid analysis of the chymotryptic peptides of D showed that the carboxyl functions of glutamic acid A4 and A17 had been free prior to coupling. The amino acid analysis of the enzymatic hydrolysate (subtilisin, aminopeptidase M) of the A-chain derivative C showed an additional peak with an elution position identical to the model compound aminosuccinimide. The biological activity of the [Asm A21[insulin was found to be about 40% in the fat cell test and 13.2 units/mg measured by the mouse convulsion method.