Lactam bridge stabilization of alpha-helices: the role of hydrophobicity in controlling dimeric versus monomeric alpha-helices.
A series of lactam-bridged and linear 14 residue amphipathic alpha-helical peptides based on the sequence Ac-EXEALKKEXEALKK-amide were prepared in order to determine the effect of decreasing the hydrophobicity of the nonpolar face to helical content and stability. This was done by substituting position X by Ile, Val, and Ala. Lactam bridges spaced i to i + 4 were formed between the side chains of Glu3 and Lys7 and Glu10 and Lys14 while the linear noncyclized peptides could potentially form i to i + 4 salt bridges with the same residues. It was found that in all cases the lactam-bridged peptides were substantially more helical than the corresponding linear peptides as determined by CD spectroscopy. Moreover, the helical content approached 100% for the lactam-bridged peptides X = Ile and Ala and was greater than 80% for X = Val. For X = Ile and Val, this was partly due to the ability of the lactam bridges to enhance interchain interactions relative to the linear versions of the same sequence. Size-exclusion chromatography demonstrated that the Ile-based peptide associates as a dimer. The alanine-based lactam-bridged peptide was found to be monomeric as determined by concentration dependency studies and size-exclusion chromatography. Thermal denaturation studies in benign media indicated that the lactam-based peptides were very stable. The conformation of the Ala-based lactam peptide was further characterized by two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy and was found to be highly helical. The results demonstrate the ability of lactam bridges to stabilize the helical conformation and enhance dimerization of peptides based on a 3,4 hydrophobic heptad repeat. The substitution of Ala residues in the hydrophobic face of the alpha-helix can prevent dimerization and specify monomeric helical structure.
Houston
M E
ME
Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Campbell
A P
AP
Lix
B
B
Kay
C M
CM
Sykes
B D
BD
Hodges
R S
RS
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D007769:Lactams; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013816:Thermodynamics
D007769:Lactams; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D009842:Oligopeptides