STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF TENTAGEL RESIN BEADS - IMPLICATIONS FOR COMBINATORIAL LIBRARY CHEMISTRY

In view of the widespread use of TentaGel resin beads for the synthesi s of combinatorial libraries, the properties of TentaGel resin have be en examined using a combination of confocal laser microscopy and NMR s pectroscopy. Evidence is presented that trypsin, a 23.5-kDa enzyme, ca n penetrate to the core of 90-mu m TentaGel beads, and that the matrix of such beads permits molecular motion at a similar rate to that in s olution. The beads act as a separate gel phase rather than as a porous solid. These conclusions have important implications for the bioassay of on-bead combinatorial chemical libraries.