Comparative Properties of Insulin‐like Growth Factor 1 (IGF‐1) and [Gly7D‐Ala]IGF‐1 Prepared by Total Chemical Synthesis

Chemistry for biology: IGF-1 and [Gly7D-Ala]IGF-1 have been prepared by a total chemical synthesis and their folding and receptor-binding properties compared (see scheme). This approach facilitates the introduction of nonstandard amino acids whose biosynthetic incorporation is difficult or not feasible and thus promises to lead to a new generation of structure–activity studies of potential interest in the treatment of cancer and diabetes mellitus.