library(stringr)
vec <- c("SHVANSGYMGMTPRLGLESLLE*A*MIRVASQ")
matches <- stringr::str_match_all(vec, "(?=(M[^*]*)\\*)")
unlist(lapply(matches, function(z) z[,2]))
bGlicmFyeShzdHJpbmdyKQp2ZWMgPC0gYygiU0hWQU5TR1lNR01UUFJMR0xFU0xMRSpBKk1JUlZBU1EiKQptYXRjaGVzIDwtIHN0cmluZ3I6OnN0cl9tYXRjaF9hbGwodmVjLCAiKD89KE1bXipdKilcXCopIikKdW5saXN0KGxhcHBseShtYXRjaGVzLCBmdW5jdGlvbih6KSB6WywyXSkp