Figure 5.
E40 completely removes the immunogenicity of the 33-mer peptide. LC/MS profile of 33-mer digestion by E40 at pH 5 and 37 °C, with E40 in a molar ratio 1:48 versus peptide. Panel (A): Trace of full length peptide alone (triply charged ion [(M + 3 H+)3+ = 1304.68]). Panels (B–E): Time-course of 33-mer cleavage by E40 activity (from to top-bottom 0, 15, 30, 60 minutes digestion, respectively). Peptide fragments formed during digestion are indicated by arrows. Rapid action of E40 onto the substrate can be visible at time 0′, complete disappearance of 33-mer is obtained already after 15′ of digestion. Panel (F): Schematic visualization of E40 cleavage sites deduced from the final residual peptides which demonstrates the complete epitopes destruction since 30′ reaction.