Crosslinked insulins: preparation, properties, and application.

Crosslinked insulins have proved to be valuable for structure-function studies and as proinsulin models. In the first part of the paper, a short review of the literature on analytical investigations, the preparation of A1-B1- and A1-B29-crosslinked derivatives, their biological activities in vivo and in vitro, and CD-spectral properties is given. The results of reduction/reoxidation studies with insulin derivatives containing irreversible and cleavable crosslinks are summarized. In the second part, new A1-B29-crosslinked monomers and 3 symmetrical dimers, linked between A1-A'1, B1-B'1 and B29-B'29, are described, as well as some results of tritium-labelling and of enzymatic degradation experiments with A1-B29-linked insulins.