title: Selective protein-protein interactions driven by a phenylalanine interface.
abstract: Highly specific protein-protein interfaces have been the subject of considerable study for their potential utility in disrupting or interrogating cellular signaling and control networks. We report that coiled-coil sequences decorated with phenylalanine core residues fold into stable alpha-helical bundles and that these self-sort from similar peptide assemblies with aliphatic core side chains. For self-assembled ensembles derived from 30-residue monomeric peptides, the DeltaG of specificity is -1.5 kcal/mol, comparable with earlier self-sorting coiled-coil systems. Intriguingly, although this interface is constructed from canonical amino acids, it does not appear to have been exploited in native proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Yoder
authors.forename: Krishna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kumar
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D010649:Phenylalanine / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D011487:Protein Conformation; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D010649:Phenylalanine