The UCSD Peptide-Oligonucleotide Synthesis facility was established about seven years ago as a collaborative enterprise to provide affordable synthetic peptides and oligonucleotides to University researchers. In this regard, a recharge system was set in place to pay for materials and the salaries for technical persons who actually conducted the operations. In the beginning, all peptides and oligonucleotides were synthesized manually. In 1983 the facility was awarded a DRR-BRS Shared Instrumentation Award for the purchase of an automatic peptide synthesizer. In the intervening five years more than 500 peptides have been made on that machine, which has been in continuous operation. The synthesizer is a model that is no longer manufactured and is considered obsolete. At the same time, demand has outstripped the pace at which the machine can operate. We are now asking for funds for a replacement synthesizer-analyzer system that will allow at least a three-fold increase in the number of peptides that can be made per month. A 16-member core user group has been identified, all of whom have NIH grants. The group includes one very heavy user (the PI), ten consistent users, and five occasional users. These researchers, representing seven departments, both at the School of Medicine and the main UCSD campus, use synthetic peptides in a wide variety of settings, including peptides as antigens for the production of antibodies that can be used to identify or purify gene products known only through their DNA sequences. Other intended uses for these peptides include enzyme inhibitors, site-specific labels, hormone analogues and anticoagulants.
