Editorial

Peptide science and the wider scientific community lost one of its true giants on 14 May 2006 with the passing of Nobel Laureate R. Bruce Merrifield after a long illness at the age of 84. Born on 15 July, 1921, in Fort Worth, Texas, Merrifield grew up in California. He graduated in 1943 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), with a B.A. in chemistry, and worked for a year as a technician for the Philip R. Park Research Foundation. He went on to receive a Ph.D. in biochemistry from UCLA in 1949. Dr. Merrifield came to the Rockefeller Institute as an assistant in 1949 in the laboratory of Dr. D. W. Woolley. He was made professor in 1966, was named John D. Rockefeller Jr. Professor in 1983 and became emeritus in 1992.

During his early years at the Institute, later Rockefeller University, Merrifield worked on peptide growth factors that Woolley had discovered earlier. These studies led to the need for peptide analogues which he undertook to prepare by the then very cumbersome and exacting method of solution phase synthesis. This involved the individual addition of activated amino acids to a growing peptide chain in solution followed by purification of the resulting intermediate prior to the attachment of the next residue. Realizing the need for both simplification and increasing the efficiency of peptide synthesis eventually led Merrifield to devise the concept of solid phase peptide synthesis in 1959. Its development into practical reality took two years and is remarkable for its ingenious simplicity. Briefly, one end of the intended peptide chain is tethered to a solid support via its C-terminal amino acid residue. Subsequent amino acids are added in a stepwise manner via repetitive cycles of coupling and selective deprotection which presents the considerable advantages of allowing intermediate byproducts and excess reagents (including amino acid) to be removed by simple washing and filtration. Amino acid coupling could be carried out under more forcing conditions to enable the acquisition of final product in much greater yield and purity following its liberation from the solid support. The simplicity of the method also made it amenable to automation and today automated synthesizers continue to be important components of numerous research laboratories.

Merrifield received many academic and professional awards throughout his career but his crowning achievement was the receipt of the 1984 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This was awarded for “his development of methodology for chemical synthesis on a solid matrix.” Despite the remarkable advances in recombinant DNA production of peptides and proteins, the Merrifield solid phase synthesis remains a crucially important means for the acquisition of not only peptides and proteins and their analogues but also of nucleic acids and sugars, and continues to have a major impact in many areas of biochemistry, medicine, pharmacology and molecular biology.

All who knew Bruce Merrifield, either personally or informally, were struck by his humble demeanour, modesty and charm. He was unfailingly polite and courteous, and was always ready to provide advice or support if asked. He will be remembered in many ways, one of which is through this special issue of International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics. In preparing it, we were both gratified and honored that each one of our invitations to Bruce’s past colleagues, students or friends to contribute a manuscript was immediately accepted. The outstanding quality of these peer-reviewed papers is testament not only to the scientific caliber of the authors but also to the enduring legacy of Merrifield’s solid phase peptide synthesis technique which continues to be widely used today to address many areas of peptide and protein science. Not only were we were delighted with the rapid response to our invitations but also by the many referees as well. We also wish to record our sincere thanks to Mr Bill Payne, the journal’s proof setter, who worked very hard to ensure that tight deadlines were met, and also Ms Vickie Ferrara, the publishing editor, for her constant support and encouragement. We are delighted with this resulting special issue of International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics and are proud to honor the memory of this generation’s finest peptide chemist with it.

Fernando Alberico, Gregg Fields and John Wade

Co-Editors-in-Chief