Proline-glutamate chimera's side chain conformation directs the type of [beta]-hairpin structure

• Published in: Amino acids Vol. 46; no. 1; p. 177
• Main Authors: Maity, Jyotirmoy, Gerling, Ulla I; M, Vukelic, Stella, Schäfer, Andreas, Koksch, Beate
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vienna Springer Nature B.V 01.01.2014
• ISSN: 0939-4451; 1438-2199
• DOI: 10.1007/s00726-013-1610-1

Issue Title: Clinical Significance of Taurine Our aim was to study the impact of two proline chimeras, containing a glutamic acid side chain in cis- or trans-configuration, on secondary structure formation. We further investigated to what extent the configuration of the side chain contributes to the overall peptide conformation. We used a 10 residue peptide (IYSNPDGTWT) that forms a [beta]-hairpin in water. The turn-forming proline was substituted with either a cis- or trans-proline-glutamic acid chimera, resulting in the peptides IYSNP ^sup cis -E^DGTWT (P1_P ^sup cis-E^) and IYSNP ^sup trans -E^DGTWT (P1_P ^sup trans-E^). We studied the conformation of the modified peptides by circular dichroism (CD) and NMR-spectroscopy, and SEC/static light scattering (SLS) analysis. NMR analysis reveals that the modified peptides maintain the [beta]-hairpin conformation in aqueous solution. At 5 °C and pH 4.3, the peptide (P1_P ^sup cis-E^) was found to adopt two coexisting [beta]-hairpin conformations (2:2 [beta]-hairpin, and 3:5 [beta]-hairpin). In contrast to that, the peptide (P1_P ^sup trans-E^) adopts a 2:2 [beta]-hairpin that exists in equilibrium with a 4:4 [beta]-hairpin conformation. The adoption of ordered [beta]-hairpin structures for both modified peptides could be confirmed by CD spectroscopy, while SEC/SLS analysis showed a monomeric oligomerization state for all three investigated peptides. With the combination of several NMR methods, we were able to elucidate that even small alterations in the side chain conformation of the proline-glutamate chimera (cis or trans) can significantly influence the conformation of the adopted [beta]-hairpin.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]