The major objectives of the project are: (a) the structural analysis and synthesis of peptides and proteins with alpha, beta-unsaturated amino acids, lanthionines, and lysinoalanine; (b) the correlation of the structural features of these molecules with their effect on neonatal and neoplastic tissue-retardation of intra-uterine and tumor growth, inhibition of implantation, and induction of fetal resorption; (c) the synthesis of peptides corresponding to partial sequences of the carboxyl-terminal region of human chorionic gonadotropin for the development of immunoassays for the early detection and diagnostic evaluation of the hormone under normal and pathological conditions; (d) the synthesis of analogues of the gramicidins A, B, and C for: iontransport studies across synthetic and biological membranes and further exploration of their established effect on neonatal and neoplastic tissue; (e) the synthesis of peptides agonistic or antagonistic to the release of fertility regulating hormones; (f) the application of dehydrolanine resins to the solid phase synthesis of peptide amides; (g) the development of new techniques in (1) peptide synthesis - e.g. the protection of amino groups with gamma-methylthiobutyric and, (2) amino acids analysis - column modification, detection, and sample application; (h) the development of nonenzymatic techniques for the fragmentation of peptides and proteins; (i) the isolation and characterization of lysosomes from developing tissue.