The Formation of Lysinoalanine during the Treatment of Wool with Alkali

Abstract

Under the conditions of alkali treatment, about one-quarter of the LAL [lysinoalanine] produced stems from dehydroalanine residues that were not half-cystine residues, whereas all the dehydroalanine residues required for lanthionine formation come from half-cystine. There are thus at least 3 acid-stable cross-linkages formed in wool when it is treated with alkali: the lanthionine linkage, an LAL linkage between lysine residues and dehydroalanine residues from half-cystine, and an LAL linkage between lysine residues and dehydroalanine residues that arise by modification of other amino acid residues in wool. Some of these are probably serine residues.