title: Hydrated electron-initiated main-chain scission in peptides: an e.s.r. and spin-trapping study.
abstract: The reactions of hydrated electrons (eaq-) with 19 tripeptides were investigated. Hydrated electrons were produced by gamma-radiolysis of aqueous peptide solutions containing sufficient sodium formate to remove hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen atoms. t-Butanol was also used to scavenge hydroxyl radicals. The short-lived radicals formed by the reactions of eaq- with the peptides were spin-trapped with t-nitrosobutane to form stable nitroxide radicals and identified by e.s.r. spectroscopy. The tripeptides studied contained two glycine residues. Following the addition of eaq- to tripeptides, C-N bond scission was observed at three sites. Cleavage occurred between the nitrogen of the ammonium group and the alpha-carbon and between the nitrogen of the peptide linkage and the adjoining alpha-carbons. The radicals corresponding to each of these three types of scission were identified. From a comparison of the radical yields of the reaction of eaq- with ala, (ala)2, and poly-DL-ananine with an average degree of polymerization of 1800, it was shown that eaq-, can react with many carbonyl groups of poly-DL-alanine, leading to main-chain scission. Analogous reactions of eaq- with proteins and enzymes may be expected to lead to loss of biological activity.
mesh_terms: D000409:Alanine; D004578:Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy; D004583:Electrons; D005609:Free Radicals; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000528:radiation effects; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D005609:Free Radicals; D009842:Oligopeptides; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D000409:Alanine