具有双活性序列的新型抗菌肽的设计及性质

设计合成了具有2个活性序列的线性和环状多肽及具有单个活性序列的短链多肽, 研究了它们的杀菌活性、 细胞毒性及溶血性. 结果表明, 线性肽和环状肽的杀菌活性高于短链肽. 利用计算模拟的方法计算了多肽与细菌细胞膜中一种重要的成分磷脂酰甘油(DMPG)的结合能. 结果表明, 多肽-DMPG的结合能与多肽的杀菌活性具有较高的相关性, 线性和环状多肽与DMPG的结合能大于短链肽. 线性和环状多肽均含有2个活性序列, 可提供多个荷正电氨基酸与荷负电的磷脂结合, 结合能较大, 杀菌活性较强. 采用模拟生物膜对其中几条多肽的作用机理进行了初步研究. 结果表明, 该类多肽有可能使正常哺乳动物细胞的细胞膜产生孔洞; 而对于细菌细胞膜, 多肽并未在膜上产生明显孔洞, 而是引起了细菌细胞膜的聚集.     

胆固醇修饰的非天然HR序列肽类HIV-1融合抑制剂的合成及活性初筛

将胆固醇分子通过1个半胱氨酸侧链硫醚键和1个β-丙氨酸连接臂引入到所设计的非天然HR序列抗HIV融合活性多肽的C端和N端,合成了与天然C肽序列同源性很低的非天然序列的类肽抗HIV融合分子,以考察胆固醇修饰对非天然HR序列活性的影响,探讨克服耐药性的新思路.生物活性评价结果表明,胆固醇与HR肽C端结合物抑制HIV融合活性显著提高,而连接到N端的序列则完全失去了抗病毒活性,表明所设计的非天然序列确实具有与天然序列类似的作用机制.     

抗菌肽SAMP1及其类似肽的构效关系

以人工合成抗菌肽1(Synthetic antimicrobial peptide 1, SAMP1)为研究模板, 采用氨基酸序列重排、 不同的带正电荷氨基酸残基和疏水性氨基酸残基取代等方法, 设计合成了8条SAMP1类似肽. 利用生物信息学软件预测了SAMP1及其类似肽的理化性质; 采用圆二色光谱(CD)技术测定其在不同环境下二级结构的变化; 采用噻唑蓝(MTT)法测定其抗菌活性; 通过红细胞溶血实验评估了这些多肽的溶血性. 结果表明, 大部分类似肽具有较低的溶血毒性和较高的广谱抗菌活性. CD光谱分析结果显示, 大部分类似肽二级结构以α螺旋和无规则卷曲为主, 在体积分数为50%的2,2,2-三氟乙醇(TFE)溶液中, α螺旋结构比例增加. 与母肽SAMP1相比, 经序列重排后得到的SAMP1-A1, SAMP1-A2和SAMP1-A3的抗菌活性变化不大, 但序列中正电荷氨基酸残基均匀分布的类似肽SAMP1-A2的溶血毒性增加. 用精氨酸(Arg)取代SAMP1序列中的赖氨酸(Lys)得到的类似肽SAMP1-A4的抗菌活性增强, 同时溶血毒性降低. 用疏水性较强的异亮氨酸(Ile)和缬氨酸(Val)取代SAMP1中的疏水性氨基酸残基, 得到的类似肽SAMP1-A5和SAMP1-A7的抗菌活性急剧降低; 用疏水性较弱的色氨酸(Trp)取代SAMP1中的疏水性氨基酸残基, 得到的类似肽SAMP1-A8的抗菌活性增强, 同时溶血毒性提高.     

免标记地检测二元磷脂膜中磷脂分布的表面增强拉曼成像方法

以银纳米粒子自组装层为增强基底,我们报道了一种用于检测二元磷脂膜中具有相似结构磷脂分布的表面增强拉曼成像方法,这种方法具有免标记及花费低廉的优点.对探针分子对巯基苯胺（p-aminothiophenol）,实验中所用的银纳米粒子自组装层表现出强的表面增强拉曼活性及良好的重现性.原子力显微镜表征结果证明了完整的磷脂膜在银纳米粒子自组装层上的形成.以这种银自组装层为基底,我们得到了磷脂膜中二肉豆蔻酰磷脂酰甘油（DMPG）和二肉豆蔻酰磷脂酰胆碱（DMPC）的表面增强拉曼光谱,并且利用DMPG的光谱特征峰,1482cm-1,区分这两种磷脂.而通过1482cm-1和1650cm-1的峰强比（R1482/1650）,可以同时得知在混合磷脂膜上某点这两种磷脂所占的比例：R1482/1650值的增加意味着DMPG的增加和DMPC的减少.磷脂膜的表面增强拉曼成像则是由R1482/1650值和对应的位置信息组合而得到,其成像结果表明了带电的磷脂DMPG在混合磷脂膜中的聚集.我们所报道的基于表面增强拉曼成像技术的方法提供了一种便利的、免标记的和花费低廉的途径来研究磷脂膜的结构,例如磷脂域和脂阀.     

绿豆胰蛋白酶抑制剂片段及其类似物的合成

绿豆胰蛋白酶抑制剂的Lys活性碎片由两条分别含有26及9个氯基酸残基的多肽链通过两对分子间二硫键连接而成。用DTT还原能拆分两链,其中长链含6个半胱氨酸,在空气中氧化后能恢复25％原Lys碎片活力。本文报道了此长链的化学合成和二硫键重组。合成产物的氯基酸组成与文献报道的一致。但活性明显低于天然产物。为此对绿豆抑制剂的部分序列重新进行测定,结果表明原P_2′位的Lys应为Ile按新测定序列,从长链26肽的N端和C端各去掉两个残基合成一个22肽,此22肽的活性与天然的26肽相当。此外还合成了此22肽的类似物,其活性中心的Lys残基由Ala取代,产物对胰蛋白酶和弹性蛋白酶都无抑制活力。     

血清多肽组及其个体差异的纳升液相色谱-高分辨串联质谱分析

分析和比较疾病组及健康对照组的混合样品是血清多肽组生物标记物研究的常用方法,但对健康个体多肽组的差异和共性关注较少.本研究利用纳升液相色谱-高分辨四级杆飞行时间质谱鉴定健康人混合血清样品(20例)的多肽组,阐明血清多肽组的分子量分布等一般特征,进而选取6例个体样品单独分析并与混合样品的分析结果进行比较,说明正常健康样品之间的个体差异和共同成分.结果表明,可鉴定序列的血清多肽组的分子量范围在7000 Da以下,纤维蛋白原α链等蛋白质所属肽段的检出频率最高,肽段在蛋白质水平上分布具有不均一性,排在前10％的蛋白质占据了约50％的总肽段,而后40％的蛋白质只有1条检出肽段.此外,在所有样品中都检测到了来自于8个蛋白质的12个共同肽段,检测到了N端乙酰化、氨基酸氧化、磷酸化、脱氨化和脱水等翻译后修饰和明显的阶梯序列现象.本研究在肽段序列水平分析了血清多肽组的基本特征和个体差异,可为血清多肽组生物标志物研究提供参考.     

不同的引导肽对丝状噬菌体基因8蛋白展示外源多肽的影响

为了研究不同的引导肽对在基因8蛋白上展示外源多肽的影响,利用基因工程方法将一短肽插入基因8蛋白的N端,并将引导多肽去除或用基因3蛋白的引导肽序列替代基因8的引导肽序列.采用放射性脉冲追踪技术检测不同的引导肽对在基因8蛋白上展示外源多肽的作用.结果表明,无引导肽序列的引导,蛋白前体无法向成熟蛋白转化.基因3蛋白的引导肽可以引导展示有外源多肽的基因8蛋白,完成从前体向成熟蛋白的转化,但转化率明显下降.研究结果对阐明噬菌体外壳蛋白在大肠杆菌中的跨膜机制具有重要的意义.     

牡蛎源类蛋白反应修饰肽的分离纯化及肽锌螯合物的结构表征

以牡蛎为原料制备了类蛋白反应修饰肽,利用Sephadex G-15凝胶层析柱和反向高效液相色谱(RP-HPLC)等分离技术得到1条锌离子螯合活性为161 mg/g的多肽(M_w=835),多肽序列为EVPPEEH.以测得的肽序列为模板合成多肽,将纯肽与锌离子进行螯合反应制备肽锌螯合物.螯合物的红外光谱和圆二色光谱表征结果表明,锌离子主要与多肽链上的羰基氧发生相互作用.与多肽的空间结构相比,螯合物的无规则卷曲结构减少,β转角增加而β折叠减少.由肽锌螯合物的分子模拟和二级质谱结果可知,多肽与锌离子螯合后有2种空间构象:一种通过六配位的方式螯合1个锌离子,其中主要的螯合位点为多肽Val-2和Pro-3或者Glu-5和Glu-6之间的羰基氧;另一种是通过四配位的方式螯合1个锌离子,主要的螯合位点为多肽Glu-5和Glu-6之间的羰基氧.     

侧链间氢键的协同效应对环状多肽自组装的影响

运用密度泛函(DFT)B3LYP方法和半经验分子轨道方法AM1对四种环状多肽[-(L-Asn-Ala)4-], [-(L-Asp-Ala)4-], [-(L-Gln-Ala)4-] 和[-(L-Glu-Ala)4-]的单体、平行和反平行二聚体到十聚体进行了理论研究. 结果表明, 四种环状多肽无论以平行还是以反平行的方式聚集, 聚集体中相邻两个环状多肽的侧链之间都能形成氢键. 侧链间氢键的相互作用使得这些环状多肽在组装过程中的结构和能量变化均表现出一定的协同效应, 这种协同效应加强了多肽纳米管的稳定性, 同时对聚集模式的选取起到了决定性作用.     

ABEEMσп/MM力场模型下的多肽构象

在ABEEM/MM蛋白质浮动电荷力场模型的基础上,加入孤对电子和π电荷位点,从而能够体现多肽和蛋白质分子中一些重要的各向异性极化性质,允许非化学键方向的电子转移和极化.利用从头计算数据拟合模型相关参数.计算得到的小分子团簇结合能、偶极矩、氢键键长等性质与从头计算结果符合很好.该经典极化模型力场能够重复量子场下丙氨酸二肽、丙氨酸四肽、甘氨酸三肽的各稳定构象,其稳定性顺序与精密从头计算结果相一致,其结构和能量性质较以往模型有一定提高,并优于其他力场模型.     

Novel structural motifs consisting of chiral thiazolines: synthesis, molecular recognition, and anticancer activity

The facile synthesis of linear and cyclic chiral oligo(4-alpha/beta-methyl)thiazolines is described. Linear oligothiazolines have been efficiently synthesized by the iterative formation of thiazoline rings and two-directional block condensation. The construction of 24- to 36-membered cyclic oligothiazolines was achieved through the head-to-tail cyclo-oligomerization of doubly deprotected linear fragments. Studies of the interactions of both the linear and cyclic oligomers with chiral compounds revealed that cyclic oligomers displayed a strong binding affinity towards mandelic acid, whereas linear oligomers showed a poor affinity. Linear oligomers have been proven to inhibit the cell growth of the cancer cell lines HPAC, PC-3, and HCT-116. Studies of the structure-activity relationships showed that the IC50 values are clearly dependent on both the length and the terminal functionalities of the linear oligomers. Longer derivatives showed more potent activity (e.g., hexi- and octithiazolines exhibit IC50<1 microM) against all three cancer cell lines. In sharp contrast, cyclic oligomers were inactive to all three cell lines.     

High-throughput sequence determination of cyclic peptide library members by partial Edman degradation/mass spectrometry

Cyclic peptides provide attractive lead compounds for drug discovery and excellent molecular probes in biomedical research. Large combinatorial libraries of cyclic peptides can now be routinely synthesized by the split-and-pool method and screened against biological targets. However, post-screening sequence determination of hit peptides has been problematic. In this report, a high-throughput method for the sequence determination of cyclic peptide library members has been developed. TentaGel microbeads (90 mum) were spatially segregated into outer and inner layers; cyclic peptides were displayed on the bead surface, whereas the inner core of each bead contained the corresponding linear peptide as the encoding sequence. After screening of the cyclic peptide library against a macromolecular target, the identity of hit peptides was determined by sequencing the linear encoding peptides inside the bead using a partial Edman degradation/mass spectrometry method. On-bead screening of an octapeptide library (theoretical diversity of 160 000) identified cyclic peptides that bind to streptavidin. A 400-member library of tyrocidine A analogues was synthesized on TentaGel macrobeads and solution-phase screening of the library directly against bacterial cells identified a tyrocidine analogue of improved antibacterial activity. Our results demonstrate that the new method for cyclic peptide sequence determination is reliable, operationally simple, rapid, and inexpensive and should greatly expand the utility of cyclic peptides in biomedical research.     

Evaluation of the membrane-binding properties of the proximal region of the angiotensin II receptor (AT1A) carboxyl terminus by surface plasmon resonance.

The proximal region of the angiotensin II receptor (AT1A) carboxyl-terminus (known as helix VIII) is important for receptor function. In this study, we used surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to examine the interaction of helix VIII-derived peptides with three model lipid membranes. The membrane-binding properties of these synthetic peptides, as well as a series of peptide analogues with modified amino acid sequences, could be explained by both amino acid sequence and kinetic binding data by SPR. The helix VIII peptides showed a higher affinity for lipid membranes that contained negatively charged phospholipid, rather than zwitterionic phospholipid. The findings of an SPR study may be useful for estimating the cooperative binding of intracellular receptor domains with G proteins and the components of the lipid bilayer.     

Antimicrobial activity of simplified mimics of celogentin C

Linear and bicyclic analogues of the peptide natural product, celogentin C, have been prepared in which the sidechain–sidechain crosslinks in celogentin are omitted or replaced with a mesitylenyl moiety. The simplified bicyclic peptides display moderate antibacterial activity, potentially through inhibition of bacterial protomicrotubule formation, while the linear analogs show higher antibacterial activity through a possible membrane disruption mechanism.     

Acid-Resistant BODIPY Amino Acids for Peptide-Based Fluorescence Imaging of GPR54 Receptors in Pancreatic Islets

The G protein-coupled kisspeptin receptor (GPR54 or KISS1R) is an important mediator in reproduction, metabolism and cancer biology; however, there are limited fluorescent probes or antibodies for direct imaging of these receptors in cells and intact tissues, which can help to interrogate their multiple biological roles. Herein, we describe the rational design and characterization of a new acid-resistant BODIPY-based amino acid (Trp-BODIPY PLUS), and its implementation for solid-phase synthesis of fluorescent bioactive peptides. Trp-BODIPY PLUS retains the binding capabilities of both short linear and cyclic peptides and displays notable turn-on fluorescence emission upon target binding for wash-free imaging. Finally, we employed Trp-BODIPY PLUS to prepare some of the first fluorogenic kisspeptin-based probes and visualized the expression and localization of GPR54 receptors in human cells and in whole mouse pancreatic islets by fluorescence imaging.     

Adsorption behavior of linear and cyclic genetically engineered platinum binding peptides

Recently, phage and cell-surface display libraries have been adapted for genetically selecting short peptides for a variety of inorganic materials. Despite the enormous number of inorganic-binding peptides reported and their bionanotechnological utility as synthesizers and molecular linkers, there is still a limited understanding of molecular mechanisms of peptide recognition of and binding to solid materials. As part of our goal of genetically designing these peptides, understanding the binding kinetics and thermodynamics, and using the peptides as molecular erectors, in this report we discuss molecular structural constraints imposed upon the quantitative binding characteristics of peptides with an affinity for inorganics. Specifically, we use a high-affinity seven amino acid Pt-binding sequence, PTSTGQA, as we reported in earlier studies and build two constructs: one is a Cys-Cys constrained "loop" sequence (CPTSTGQAC) that mimics the domain used in the pIII tail sequence of the phage library construction, and the second is the linear form, a septapeptide, without the loop. Both sequences were analyzed for their adsorption behavior on Pt thin films by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy and for their conformational properties by circular dichroism (CD). We find that the cyclic peptide of the integral Pt-binding sequence possesses single or 1:1 Langmuir adsorption behavior and displays equilibrium and adsorption rate constants that are significantly larger than those obtained for the linear form. Conversely, the linear form exhibits biexponential Langmuir isotherm behavior with slower and weaker binding. Furthermore, the structure of the cyclic version was found to adopt a random coil molecular conformation, whereas the linear version adopts a polyproline type II conformation in equilibrium with the random coil. The 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol titration experiments indicate that TFE has a different effect on the secondary structures of the linear and cyclic versions of the Pt binding sequence. We conclude that the presence of the Cys-Cys restraint affects both the conformation and binding behavior of the integral Pt-binding septapeptide sequence and that the presence or absence of constraints could be used to tune the adsorption and structural features of inorganic binding peptide sequences.     

某些环肽及其相应线型肽在不同溶剂中构象的CD谱研究

We used CD spectroscopy to study the conformations of three cyclic peptides (CP10E: cyclo[Glu(OBz1)-Pro-Gly-Glu(OBzl)-Gly]2, CP10K: cyclo[Lys(Z)-Pro-Gly-Lys(Z)-Gly]2, CP12K: cyclo[Phe-Lys(Z)-Pro-Gly-Lys(Z)-Gly]2 and their correspondent linear peptides (LP10E: Boc-[Glu(OBzl)-Pro-Gly-Glu(OBzl)-Gly]2-OPac, LP10K: Boc-[Lys(Z)-Pro-Lys(Z)-Pro]2-OMe, LP 12K: Bao- [-Lys(Z)-Pro-Gly-Lys(Z)-Gly]2- OMe) in three solvents of different polarity (chloroform, acetonitrile, 2,2,2-triliuroethanol), and it was found that all of linear and cyclicpeptides exists asγ-turn conformation in chloroform, however, in TFE＆ CH3CN solutions, the three linear peptides are inβ Ⅱ-turn conformations. CP10E isβI-turn conformation, CP10K ＆CP12K exists in more than one types of turn conformations. On the basis of our experiments, it was concluded: 1) In the presence of conformational constrained amino acids short linear peptides form obvious secondary structure; 2)The solvent polarity has influence on the peptide conformation and this influence on linear peptides is greater than that on cyclic peptides; 3)The backbone of cyclic peptide has constraint effect on its conformation and makes the secondary structure of cyclic peptide different from that of its relative linear peptide. This information might give some cules in the design of bioactive peptides with different receptor selectivity.     

Redox Potential and Antioxidant Capacity of Bovine Bone Collagen Peptides towards Stable Free Radicals,and Bovine Meat Lipids and Proteins. Effect of Animal Age,Bone Anatomy and Proteases—A Step Forward towards Collagen-Rich Tissue Valorisation

Collagen antioxidant peptides are being widely studied. However, no research has paid attention to biological parameters such as the age and anatomy of collagen-rich tissues, which can determine a change in tissue structure and composition, and then in bioactivity. Moreover, only few research works have studied and assessed peptides antioxidant activity on the food matrix. This work aimed to investigate the effect of bovine’s bone age and anatomy, and of six different enzymes, on the antioxidant activity of collagen peptides. Collagen was extracted from young and old bovine femur and tibia; six different enzymes were used for peptides’ release. The redox potential, the quenching of stable free radicals, and the antioxidant capacity on bovine meat lipids and proteins was evaluated, under heating from ambient temperature to 80 °C. Age and anatomy showed a significant effect; the influence of anatomy becomes most important with age. Each enzyme’s effectiveness toward age and anatomy was not the same. The greatest amount of peptides was released from young bones’ collagen hydrolysed with papain. The antioxidant activity was higher at higher temperatures, except for meat proteins. Assessing the effect of age and anatomy of collagen-rich tissues can promote a better application of collagen bioactive peptides.     

Solution Structure and Model Membrane Interactions of P‐113, a Clinically Active Antimicrobial Peptide Derived from Human Saliva

P‐113, AKRHHGYKRKFH‐NH₂, was derived from human saliva and found to possess clinical activity against fungus infections in HIV patients with oral candidiasis. We have determined the solution structure of P‐113 bound to membrane‐mimetic SDS micelles by two‐dimensional NMR methods. The SDS micelle‐bound structure of P‐113 adopts an α‐helical segment and the positively charged residues are clustered together to form a hydrophilic patch. A variety of biophysical and biochemical experiments, including circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy and microcalorimetry, were used to show that P‐113 interacted with negatively charged phospholipid vesicles and induced dye release from these vesicles. However, its dye leakage efficiency is much less than the results of previously reported antimicrobial peptides. These results suggest that the antimicrobial activity of P‐113, unlike other antimicrobial peptides, may act not only through binding to and destabilization of the microbial membrane but also through a specific protein receptor on the microbial cell surface.