Welcome to the UNC Peptide Synthesis Core Facility
Our mission
The UNC Peptide Synthesis Core is dedicated to advancing scientific discovery by providing a comprehensive suite of services and collaborative expertise in peptide design, synthesis, and characterization.
Our services are available to both the UNC research community and external researchers.
Why Choose Our Core Facility
We are ready to work with you to design and optimize peptide sequences, modifications, and synthesis strategies to ensure the best fit for your specific application.
We offer:
- Full spectrum of services for custom peptide production, chemical modification, purification, and analysis
- Rapid turnaround times and competitive pricing
- State‑of‑the‑art instrumentation and personnel with over 25 years of experience in peptide chemistry
- High quality‑control standards to ensure reliable and reproducible results
- Free consultation and expert assistance with peptide design, sequence optimization, troubleshooting, preparation of methods sections, and letters of support for grant applications
About Us
For over 15 years, the UNC Peptide Synthesis Core Facility has served UNC and external researchers by synthesizing peptides using Fmoc Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis (see References 1 and 2 for principles of Fmoc SPPS). We routinely synthesize 20–30 amino acid peptides and have extensive experience with synthesis of longer sequences (40-80-mer). Peptide identity and homogeneity are evaluated by MALDI‑TOF mass spectrometry and analytical HPLC. Usually we synthesize peptides on 10 to 100 µmol scale (aproximately 5 to 200 mg of crude peptide), with larger‑scale synthesis available when needed.
Peptide Modifications and Specialized Capabilities
We specialize in the synthesis of multiply modified peptides, including peptides containing post‑translational modifications (PTMs), unnatural amino acids, and fluorescent labels. Available modifications include:
- Acylation (e.g., acetylation, propionylation, butyrylation, crotonylation; on Lys residues)
- Biotinylation (C-, N-terminal, or Lys(Biot))
- Methylation (on Lys or Arg residues)
- Phosphorylation (on Ser, Thr, or Tyr residues)
- Fluorescent tags and quenchers (e.g 5-Fam, 5-Tamra, Cy3, Cy5.5, BBQ-650)
- Metal cation complexing tags (e.g., DOTA, NOTA)
- D-amino acids
- Unnatural amino acids (e.g. 6-Cl-Trp)
- Amino acids containing stable isotopes (e.g. 2H, 13C, 15N)
- PEG linkers/spacers
- Various peptide cyclization strategies (e.g., head‑to‑tail or disulfide bond formation)
- Peptide hydrazides (for Native Chemical Ligation)
Additional Services
- Synthesis of Multiple Antigenic Peptides (MAPs) for polyclonal antibody production (see the MAPs section for details)
- Rapid synthesis of mid‑size peptide libraries (approximately 50 crude peptides per week)
- MALDI‑MS and MS/MS analysis of peptide samples using an AB Sciex 5800 MALDI‑TOF/TOF mass spectrometer
- Walk‑up access to the MALDI‑TOF/TOF instrument for trained internal users
We are always happy to discuss your peptide needs and explore additional modifications or custom solutions to support your research.
We obtain on-going support from the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center through the University Cancer Research Fund and the Cancer Center Support Grant. Consequently, publications supported by the UNC Center for Structural Biology (internal users) must acknowledge NIH grant P30CA016086 and be submitted to PubMed Central in compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy.
Suggested acknowledgement: “The peptide synthesis was performed in the UNC Peptide Synthesis Core facility (RRID:SCR_017837), work was supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award number P30CA016086.”