Patent ID: 7939293

Claim:
A method for the production of C-terminal amidated peptides of the general formula II: (AS)n-Xm-NH2 (formula II) wherein AS is a genetically encoded amino acid; n is 5-2000; and X is a basic amino acid or derivatives thereof, m is 1-15; and n and m are whole numbers and wherein i) a host cell transformed with an expression cassette, vector or an in vitro expression system, each containing a nucleic acid sequence encoding formula I: (AS)n 2 -Xm 2 -Yp (formula I) wherein AS is a genetically encodable amino acid; X 2 is a basic amino acid or derivatives thereof; m 2 is 1-15 Y is at least one neutral charge amino acid; p is 1-10; wherein n 2 , m 2 and p are whole numbers; is cultured in a nutrient medium, ii) the nucleic acid sequence is expressed, iii) optionally the expressed compounds are released from a precursor peptide by enzymatic or chemical cleavage, iv) the expression products from ii) or the intermediate products from iii) are reacted with an alpha-amidating enzyme after an optional purification step, and v) the C-terminal amidated peptide of the general formula II is purified.