title: Folding of the prion peptide GGGTHSQW around the copper(II) ion: identifying the oxygen donor ligand at neutral pH and probing the proximity of the tryptophan residue to the copper ion.
abstract: The GGGTHSQW sequence in the amyloidogenic part of the prion protein is a potential binding site for Cu(II). We have previously studied the binding of copper to the shorter GGGTH peptide and showed that it is highly pH dependent (Hureau et al. in J. Biol. Inorg. Chem. 11:735-744, 2006). Two predominant complexes could be characterized at pH 6.7 and 9.0 with equatorial binding modes of 3N1O and 4N for the metal ion, respectively. In this work, we have further investigated the coordination of Cu(II) to the GGGTH peptide as well as the longer GGGTHSQW peptide in order to identify the oxygen donor ligand at neutral pH and to study the proximity and redox activity of the tryptophan residue of the latter. The results for both peptides show that, at pH 6.7, Cu(II) is coordinated by a carbonyl peptide backbone. At higher pH values, the carbonyl ligand dissociates and the coordination changes to a 4N binding mode, inducing a structural rearrangement that brings the GGGTHSQW peptide's tryptophan residue into the vicinity of the copper ion, thus affecting their respective redox properties.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d'Orsay, CNRS UMR 8182, Equipe de Chimie Inorganique, Université Paris-Sud, 91405, Orsay Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hureau
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mathé
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Faller
authors.forename: Tony A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Mattioli
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dorlet
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D003300:Copper / Q000378:metabolism*; D004563:Electrochemistry; D004578:Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy; D005453:Fluorescence; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008024:Ligands; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D011328:Prions / Q000737:chemistry*; D017510:Protein Folding; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014364:Tryptophan / Q000032:analysis*; D014732:Vibration
chemical_list: D008024:Ligands; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011328:Prions; D003300:Copper; D014364:Tryptophan; D010100:Oxygen