Carcinolytic peptides with selective action

Summary Peptides bearing the bis(2-chloroethyl)amino group were obtained by the catalytic hydrogenolysis of the corresponding benzyl esters.For the first communication in this series see [1–4].     

Preparation of anhydrochymotrypsin diol silica as selective adsorbent for affinity chromatography of peptides with aromatic amino acids at C-termini

Summary Anhydrochymotrypsin (AHC), a catalytically inert derivative of chymotrypsin in which the serine-residue active site has been converted chemically to a dehydroalanine residue, was immobilized on diol silica by activation with trifluoroethanesulfonyl chloride. A AHC-diol-silica column was used for high-performance affinity chromatographic separation of peptides with aromatic amino acids at their C-termini from other peptides. Faster separations were achieved.     

Solid-phase capture and release of arginine peptides by selective tagging and boronate affinity chromatography

A method for the selection of arginine-containing peptides from a mixture by a solid phase capture and release technique is presented. The method is based on the covalent modification of the guanidine group of arginine with 2,3-butanedione and phenylboronic acid under alkaline conditions. Using polymeric materials with immobilised phenylboronic acid the arginine-peptides can be captured on a solid support while arginine-free peptides are not covalently bound and can be washed away. Finally, the arginine-peptides can be cleaved again from the boronic acid beads due to the reversibility of the reaction. The recovered peptides are then analysed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The method was optimised with model peptides with regard to the non-specific binding of arginine-free peptides and quantitative cleavage of the label after the selection step. Using an adequate protocol, the applicability towards more complex samples was successfully tested with a tryptic digest of a mixture of three standard proteins.     

Synthetic receptors for the differentiation of phosphorylated peptides with nanomolar affinities

Artificial ditopic receptors for the differentiation of phosphorylated peptides varying in i+3 amino acid side chains were synthesized, and their binding affinities and selectivities were determined. The synthetic receptors show the highest binding affinities to phosphorylated peptides under physiological conditions (HEPES, pH 7.5, 154 mM NaCl) reported thus far for artificial systems. The tight and selective binding was achieved by high cooperativity of the two binding moieties in the receptor molecules. All receptors interact with phosphorylated serine by bis(ZnII-cyclen) complex coordination and a second binding site recognizing a carboxylate or imidazole amino acid side chain functionality.     

Synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides with immunomodulatory responses

A new series of aryl-based synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides (SMAMPs) with antimicrobial activity and selectivity have been developed via systematic tuning of the aromatic groups and charge. The addition of a pendant aromatic group improved the antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacteria, while the addition of charge improved the selectivity. SMAMP 4 with six charges and a naphthalene central ring demonstrated a selectivity of 200 against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli , compared with a selectivity of 8 for the peptide MSI-78. In addition to the direct antimicrobial activity, SMAMP 4 exhibited specific immunomodulatory activities in macrophages both in the presence and in the absence of lipopolysaccharide, a TLR agonist. SMAMP 4 also induced the production of a neutrophil chemoattractant, murine KC, in mouse primary cells. This is the first nonpeptidic SMAMP demonstrating both good antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities.     

A luminescent receptor with affinity for N-terminal histidine in peptides in aqueous solution

Crown ethers of suitable size are the perfect artificial host compounds for ammonium ion binding, but the rather low affinity in aqueous solution prevents their use at physiological conditions. We report here the synthesis and properties of a luminescent benzo crown ether with a pendant copper imidodiacetic acid complex, which coordinates with high affinity to histidine. The emission intensity of the benzo crown ether increases significantly in the presence of ammonium ions in methanol. At physiological conditions in buffered water at pH 7.5 these interactions are too weak to be detected. If an ammonium ion and an imidazole moiety are present in the analyte, such as in His-Lys-OMe or His-OMe, high binding affinity in aqueous solution is restored. The binding event is signaled by an increase in emission intensity, which can even be observed with the naked eye. This allows the selective detection of small peptides containing N-terminal histidine or histidine among all other amino acids at physiological conditions.     

Synthetic peptides for study of human immunodeficiency virus infection

The formation of a complex among gp120, CD4, and CCR5/CXCR4 represents a key step in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The use of synthetic peptides reproducing sequences of these surface proteins has increased knowledge about the interactions that determine the penetration of HIV viruses into target cells. The final aim of such investigations is the design of molecules able to inhibit the initial step of infection and the development of high-sensitivity in vitro assays for detection of HIV. In particular, the studies presented herein concern the role of the gp120 V3 loop in the CD4 binding, the importance of the N-terminal sequence of HIV-coreceptor CCR5, the sequences patterned on CXCR4 natural ligand (stromal-derived factor 1 [SDF-1]) as inhibitory peptides, and the importance of substrate secondary structure in determining the enzymatic processing of gp120 precursor (gp160).     

Identification of sequence selective receptors for peptides with a carboxylic acid terminus

Split-and-mix libraries of resin-bound "tweezer" receptors have been prepared and screened to identify receptors for dye-labelled tripeptides. The receptors incorporate a diamidopyridine unit to serve as a specific recognition site for the CO2H group, leading to strong and selective receptors for peptide guests with a CO2H terminus. The role of the dye-label, attached to the peptide guest to allow visualisation of selective recognition events in the screening experiments, has also been examined and was found to have a significant influence on the binding selectivities.     

Design and synthesis of peptides that bind alpha-bungarotoxin with high affinity

BACKGROUND: Alpha-bungarotoxin (alpha-BTX) is a highly toxic snake venom alpha-neurotoxin that binds to acetylcholine receptor (AChR) at the neuromuscular junction, and is a potent inhibitor of this receptor. We describe the design and synthesis of peptides that bind alpha-BTX with high affinity, and inhibit its interaction with AChR with an IC(50) of 2 nM. The design of these peptides was based on a lead peptide with an IC(50) of 3x10(-7) M, previously identified by us [M. Balass et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94 (1997) 6054] using a phage-display peptide library. RESULTS: Employing nuclear magnetic resonance-derived structural information [T. Scherf et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94 (1997) 6059] of the complex of alpha-BTX with the lead peptide, as well as structure-function analysis of the ligand-binding site of AChR, a systematic residue replacement of the lead peptide, one position at a time, yielded 45 different 13-mer peptides. Of these, two peptides exhibited a one order of magnitude increase in inhibitory potency in comparison to the lead peptide. The design of additional peptides, with two or three replacements, resulted in peptides that exhibited a further increase in inhibitory potency (IC(50) values of 2 nM), that is more than two orders of magnitude better than that of the original lead peptide, and better than that of any known peptide derived from AChR sequence. The high affinity peptides had a protective effect on mice against alpha-BTX lethality. CONCLUSIONS: Synthetic peptides with high affinity to alpha-BTX may be used as potential lead compounds for developing effective antidotes against alpha-BTX poisoning. Moreover, the procedure employed in this study may serve as a general approach for the design and synthesis of peptides that interact with high affinity with any desired biological target.     

Preparation of anhydrotrypsin-immobilized diol silica as a selective adsorbent for high-performance affinity chromatography of peptides containing arginine or lysine at their C-termini

Summary Anhydrotrypsin (AHT), a catalytically inert derivative of trypsin in which the active site serine residue was converted to dehydroalanine residue by chemical modification, was immobilized onto diol silica through the activation with trifluoroethanesulfonyl chloride, and an AHT-diol-silica column was used for high-performance affinity chromatography separation of peptides containing arginine or lysine at their C-termini from the others. Improved separation in terms of speed was accomplished.     

A novel support with artificially created recognition for the selective removal of proteins and for affinity chromatography

Summary Acrylamide and N,N-methylenebisacrylamide were copolymerized in the presence of a protein to form a gel which was pressed through a sieve. The gel particles obtained were packed into a chromatographic tube. The experimental conditions for the polymerization are such that the pores of the gel particles are large enough to permit the protein to diffuse out of the particles, so that the entrapped protein can be removed from the bed by washing with an aqueous solution. However the interaction with the matrix is so strong that the protein can be desorbed only by a buffer containing 0.5 M sodium chloride or by a 10% solution of acetic acid containing 10% SDS. When a sample containing the protein present during the polymerization was applied to the column along with other proteins this protein was the only one adsorbed. The technique worked selectively with hemoglobin, cytochrome C and transferrin.     

Synthetic peptides in the diagnosis of neurological diseases

For several years peptides have been used to investigate many aspects of the molecular mechanisms supporting the etiopathogenesis of neurological diseases. Even if well-established and commercially-available assays for the diagnosis of neurological diseases, based on peptides, are presently not available, much research has been focused to the comprehension of the pathogenetic mechanisms of relevant neurological diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and prion diseases. Several peptides, which strongly contributed to increase in the progress, and in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of these important diseases, have been selected as antigens to be proposed in possible alternative diagnostic methodologies. The authors focused their attention on the possible peptides to be used as diagnostics for these three characteristic neurological diseases. In fact, Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which peptides have been used for the characterization of both B and T immune response, while Alzheimer's disease and prion diseases can be cumulative regarded as "protein folding disorders" in which peptides can be used to identify the misfolded protein.     

Synthetic and conformational studies on dehydrovaline-containing model peptides

To explore the conformational preferences of α?-dehydrovaline (ΔVal) residue, three model dipeptide N-methylamides containing ΔVal were synthesized. Conformational investigations using 300 MHz NMR spectroscopy were based on delineation of intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded NH groups and Nuclear Overhauser Effect (NOE) studies. Temperature and solvent dependence studies in (CD₃)₂SO and CDC1₃-(CD₃)₂SO mixtures showed the absence of any intramolecular hydrogen bonding which suggests that all the three peptides have an extended conformation in solution. Dilution studies in CHC1₃ conducted using IR spectroscopy further supported the above conclusions. NOE studies also ruled out the existence of any type of discernible secondary structure for these peptides. Conformational behaviour of these dehydrovaline peptides is in contrast with corresponding peptides containing Δ^zPhe and Δ^zLeu, both of which stabilize ?-turn (type-II) structure. These results highlight the importance of steric factors in deciding the conformational properties of dehydropeptides.     

Synthetic peptides in the diagnosis of HIV infection

Peptide-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays have been found to be enough sensitive and specific for the diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus specific antibodies in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients. This review provides an overview of the most important peptides developed for use as synthetic antigens in immunodiagnosis of HIV-infected patients. In particular, many studies have been devoted to discriminate between the two retroviruses HIV-1 and HIV-2, as well as different subtypes.     

Retention of histidine-containing peptides on a nickel affinity column

The retention of histidine-containing peptides in immobilized metal-affinity chromatography is studied using several hundred modeled peptides. Retention is driven primarily by the number of histidine residues; however, the amino acid composition in the immediate vicinity plays a significant role. Specifically, the arginine and tryptophan content has to be taken into consideration. During the course of this study, an alternative tag that can be used similarly to a polyhistidine tag is discovered.     

Carbon nanotubes as affinity probes for peptides and proteins in MALDI MS analysis

Recently, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been reported to be an effective MALDI matrix for small molecules (Anal. Chem.2003, 75, 6191). In a somewhat related study, we have employed CNTs produced by using NaH-treated anodic aluminum oxide (Na@AAO) as a reactive template as the assisting matrix for MALDI analysis upon the addition of high concentrations of citrate buffer. Our results indicate that the mass range can be extended to ca. 12,000 Da and that alkali metal adducts of analytes are effectively reduced. Furthermore, we have employed citric acid-treated CNTs as affinity probes to selectively concentrate traces of analytes from aqueous solutions. High concentrations of salts and surfactants in the sample solutions are also tolerated. This approach is very suitable for the MALDI analysis of small proteins, peptides, and protein enzymatic digest products.     

Reactions of platinum(II) complexes with sulfur- and histidine-containing peptides: a model for selective platination of peptides and proteins

The reactions between two monofunctional platinum complexes [Pt(Me₄dien)Cl]⁺ (Me₄dien = 1,1,7,7-tetramethyl-diethylenetriamine) and [Pt(Et₄dien)Cl]⁺ (Et₄dien = 1,1,7,7-tetraethyldiethylenetriamine) and the peptides, N-acetylated L-methionyl-L-histidine (MeCO–Met–His) and glutathione (GSH), have been investigated by ¹H-n.m.r. spectroscopy and u.v.–vis. spectrophotometry. The reactions of the platinum(II) complexes with MeCO–Met–His were carried out at room temperature and at pH 3.0 and 7.0, whereas with GSH the reactions were studied only at pH 3.0. No binding of these two platinum complexes to the sulfur atom of methionine or to nitrogen atoms of histidine residue of MeCO–Met–His was observed during the first 24 h. When the reaction was followed further, after 24 h very slow binding of [Pt(Me₄dien)Cl]⁺ to the N3 nitrogen atom of imidazole was observed. Both platinum complexes react with the sulfur atom of the cysteine residue in GSH. Kinetic data show that GSH reacts twice as fast with [Pt(Me₄dien)Cl]⁺ than with [Pt(Et₄dien)Cl]⁺. Our findings indicate that sterically crowded platinum(II) complexes are only capable of reacting with the sulfhydryl group of the cysteine residue. This influences the design of new platinum(II) complexes for selective covalent modification of peptides and proteins.