of this kind using recombinant C-terminal thioesters is known as expressed protein ligation. Recombinant expression can also be used to give a Cys-polypeptide for use in native chemical ligation. Staudinger ligation The Staudinger ligation, first reported in 2000, in principle enables the ligation of peptide segments independent of the terminal amino acids. The method is based on the Staudinger reaction. The Staudinger ligation continues to be developed but has not yet found widespread use. Ser/Thr ligation Ser/Thr ligation was introduced into protein chemical synthesis as an alternative native chemical ligation method. Serine/Threonine-ligation involves condensation of a side-chain unprotected peptide segment containing a C-terminal salicylaldehyde ester and another peptide segment with an N-terminal Ser or Thr residue. The chemoselective reaction between the peptide salicylaldehyde ester and 1,2-hydroxylamine group of Ser or Thr leads to the formation of an N,O-benzylidene acetal-linked intermediate, which undergoes acidolysis to afford a natural peptidic Xaa-Ser/Thr linkage. Ser/Thr ligation provides a complementary method for protein chemical synthesis and semisynthesis. References Schnölzer M, Kent SB. 1992, "Constructing proteins by dovetailing unprotected synthetic peptides: backbone-engineered HIV protease." Science. 256:221-5 Dawson PE, Muir TW, Clark-Lewis I, Kent SB. 1994, "Synthesis of proteins by native chemical ligation." Science. 266:776-9. Muir TW. 2003, "Semisynthesis of proteins by expressed protein ligation." Annu Rev Biochem. 72:249-89. Nilsson BL, Soellner MB, Raines RT. 2005, "Chemical Synthesis of Proteins." Annu. Rev. Biophys. Biomol. Struct. 34:91-118 Bang D, Pentelute BL, Kent SB. 2006, "Kinetically controlled ligation for the convergent chemical synthesis of proteins." Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 45:3985-8. Kent SB. 2009, "Total chemical synthesis of proteins." Chem.Soc.Rev. 38, 338–351. . Zhang Y, Xu C, Kam HY, Lee CL, Li X. 2013, "Protein chemical synthesis by serine/threonine ligation." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 17:6657-6662 External links Aldrich, Chemical Ligation ChemFiles 2008 Vol. 8, No. 1, giving an overview on modern Chemical Ligation methods and literature. Chemical synthesis