AIT-082 synthesis proved inconclusive. I have, therefore, used a modular approach employing PABA as a probe to determine AIT-082 s protein receptor. I used affinity chromatography to isolate a protein from a general mammalian brain homogenate. The fundamental principal composing the affinity method is the isolation of a particular protein by chromatography on a bio-ligand that has been immobilized on an inert matrix. The method relies on the specificity of a protein binding site for a particular ligand.
Affinity chromatography allows protein purification in a relatively short time with a high yield.
It simplifies the isolation process by using the preexisting ligand binding relationships. It is the present scope of this study to isolate the protein receptor of PABA from mammalian nervous tissue by means of affinity chromatography. The greater aim of the study is to eventually determine the definitive protein receptor of AIT-082 for application toward the study of neurodegenerative diseases.