title: Supramolecular assembly of collagen triblock peptides.
abstract: The relationship between primary sequence and collagen triple-helix formation is relatively well characterized, while higher levels of structural assembly from these sequences is poorly understood. To address this gap, a new collagen-like triblock peptide design was used to study the relationship between amino acid sequence and supramolecular assembly. Four collagen-like peptides with the sequence (Glu)(5)(Gly-Xaa-Hyp-Gly-Pro-Hyp)(6)(Glu)(5) and corresponding to Xaa = alanine, proline, serine, or valine, and an analogous peptide without the glutamic acid end blocks, were solubilized in water at high concentrations (20-150 mg/mL) and analyzed in optical polarizing microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Some of the peptides self-assembled into supramolecular structures, the nature of which was determined by the core collagen-like sequence. The globular end blocks appeared necessary for these short triple-helix-forming peptides to spontaneously organize into supramolecular structures in solution and also provided enhanced thermal stability based on CD analysis. The results indicate a strong dependence of the peptide triblock assembly behavior on the identity of the guest residue Xaa; nematic order when Xaa was valine, no organization when Xaa was serine, and banded spherulites displaying a cholesteric-like twist when Xaa was proline or alanine. According to these results, the identity of the amino acid in position Xaa of the triplet Gly-Xaa-Yaa dramatically determined the type of supramolecular assembly formed by short triple helices based on collagen-triblock like sequences. Moreover, the structural organization observed for these collagen-triblock peptides was analogous to some assemblies observed for native collagen in vivo and in vitro. The amino acid sequence in the native collagen proteins may therefore be a direct determinant of the different supramolecular architectures found in connective tissues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology Center, Tufts University, 4 Colby Street, Massachusetts 02155, USA.
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Waldmann
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Kaplan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008859:Microscopy, Polarization; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D003094:Collagen