N-Terminal peptide aldehydes as electrophiles in combinatorial solid phase synthesis of novel peptide isosteres

N-Terminal peptide aldehydes were synthesized on a solid support and utilized as electrophiles in nucleophilic reactions in order to furnish novel and diverse peptide isosteres. The aldehyde moiety of the peptide was synthesized by coupling a protected aldehyde building block to the peptide and deprotecting it quantitatively in less than 3 min. It was found that protection of the two succeeding amide nitrogens was necessary in order to avoid reaction between the aldehyde and backbone amides. The N-terminal peptide aldehydes were successfully reacted in the following way: (a) reductive amination with a large variety of amines, leading to N-alkyl-gamma-aminobutyric peptide isosteres positioned centrally in the peptide; (b) reductive amination with amino esters, leading to N-terminal 2,5-diketopiperazine peptides; (c) Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons olefination, leading to unsaturated peptide isosteres positioned centrally in the peptide; and (d) Pictet-Spengler condensations, leading to tetrahydro-beta-carbolines either positioned centrally in a peptide or fused with a diketopiperazine ring in the N-terminus of the peptide.     

An engineered lantibiotic synthetase that does not require a leader peptide on its substrate

Ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides are a rapidly expanding class of natural products. They are typically biosynthesized by modification of a C-terminal segment of the precursor peptide (the core peptide). The precursor peptide also contains an N-terminal leader peptide that is required to guide the biosynthetic enzymes. For bioengineering purposes, the leader peptide is beneficial because it allows promiscuous activity of the biosynthetic enzymes with respect to modification of the core peptide sequence. However, the leader peptide also presents drawbacks as it needs to be present on the core peptide and then removed in a later step. We show that fusing the leader peptide for the lantibiotic lacticin 481 to its biosynthetic enzyme LctM allows the protein to act on core peptides without a leader peptide. We illustrate the use of this methodology for preparation of improved lacticin 481 analogues containing non-proteinogenic amino acids.     

Bis(2-sulfanylethyl)amino native peptide ligation

The reaction of a peptide featuring a bis(2-sulfanylethyl)amino (SEA) group on its C-terminus with a cysteinyl peptide in water at pH 7 and 37 °C leads to the chemoselective and regioselective formation of a native peptide bond. This method called SEA ligation enriches the native peptide ligation repertoire available to the peptide chemist. Preparation of an innovative solid support which allows the straightforward synthesis of peptide SEA fragments using standard Fmoc/tert-butyl solid phase peptide synthesis procedures is also described.     

N-to-C solid-phase peptide and peptide trifluoromethylketone synthesis using amino acid tert-butyl esters

Solid-phase peptide synthesis in the N-to-C direction, opposite to the classical C-to-N direction of peptide synthesis, provides the synthetically versatile C-terminal carboxyl group for further modification into C-terminally modified peptide mimetics. These are of general interest as potential bioactive agents, particularly as protease inhibitors. Elaboration of peptide mimetics on the solid-phase would facilitate synthesis of peptide mimetic combinatorial libraries. This report describes an effective strategy for solid-phase inverse peptide synthesis based on readily available amino acid tert-butyl esters. The potential of this approach for peptide mimetic synthesis is demonstrated by the solid-phase synthesis of two peptide trifluoromethylketones.     

A photoremovable ligation auxiliary for use in polypeptide synthesis

A photoremovable auxiliary for use in peptide synthesis via the native chemical ligation method is described. A 2-mercapto-1-(2-nitrophenyl)ethylamine (Mnpe-amine) moiety was attached to the N-terminus of a peptide via the periodate oxidation of a seryl peptide. The resulting peptide was then ligated to a peptide thioester, and UV (365 nm) irradiation resulted in the removal of the auxiliary from the peptide.     

Preventive Effects of Thermosensitive Biopolymer‐Conjugated C‐Peptide against High Glucose‐Induced Endothelial Cell Dysfunction

C‐peptide has emerged as a potential drug for treating diabetic complications. However, clinical application of C‐peptide is limited by its short half‐life during circulation and costly synthesis methods. To overcome these limitations, a biocompatible and thermosensitive biopolymer‐C‐peptide conjugate composed of human C‐peptide genetically conjugated at the C‐terminus of nine repeats of lysine‐containing elastin‐like polypeptide (K9‐C‐peptide) is generated. K9‐C‐peptide exhibits reversible thermal phase behavior with a transition temperature dependent on polypeptide concentration. Degradation of K9‐C‐peptide hydrogel depends on the concentration of four cleavage enzymes as well as the reaction time and frequency of treatments with elastase‐2. The preventive effect of K9‐C‐peptide against high glucose‐induced human aortic endothelial cell dysfunction is further investigated. K9‐C‐peptide inhibits high glucose‐induced intracellular reactive oxygen species generation, transglutaminase 2 activation, and apoptosis, similar to the inhibitory effects of human C‐peptide. Thus, K9‐C‐peptide is a potential drug depot for the sustained delivery of C‐peptide to treat diabetic complications.     

表面活性剂类多肽A6KA6K的自组装及机理研究

为了研究表面活性剂类多肽疏水链段长度及亲疏水氨基酸比例对其自组装结构的影响,本文设计了一种表面活性剂类多肽A6K的二倍体A6KA6K。圆二色谱分析表明的二级结构主要为无规卷曲结构并伴有少量的α-螺旋;透射电子显微镜和动态光散射分析表明,其在水溶液中能自组装形成纳米囊泡状结构。芘荧光分子探针研究表明自组装体存在疏水微区域将芘分子包裹在其中,证明了这种多肽在溶液中可形成胶束类的自组装体,并计算了其临界胶束浓度。相比已报道的表面活性剂类肽A6K,本文设计的肽序列A6KA6K由于在较长疏水链段区域中存在亲水性氨基酸K,对疏水相互作用有影响,使得含有14个氨基酸的肽自组装形成纳米囊泡状结构。     

Preliminary characterization of a light-rare-earth-element-binding peptide of a natural perennial fern <Emphasis Type="Italic"> Dicranopteris dichotoma</Emphasis>

A light-rare-earth-element (LREE)-binding peptide was isolated from LREE hyperaccumulator Dicranopteris dichotomaleaves and characterized in terms of molecular weight and ultraviolet absorption spectrum. The molecular weight of the LREE-binding peptide was determined to be 2208 Da by matrix-assisted laser-desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS). The characteristic ultraviolet absorption spectrum of the peptide was observed at 220-300 nm, suggesting that the peptide chain contained aromatic amino acids. Compared to the unique features of the phytochelatins with a low absorption at 280 nm, the LREE-binding peptide is unlikely to be a typical phytochelatin. The present study suggests that the LREE-binding peptide is probably a natural peptide in D. dichotoma, and it may play an important role in hyperaccumulation of LREEs.     

Spectroscopic investigations of metalloporphyrin-oligopeptide systems: evidence for peptide aggregation

Anionic pentapeptides consisting of a string of four glutamic acid residues terminated by either tyrosine (Glu4Tyr) or tryptophan (Glu4Trp) were synthesized, and their aggregation properties in buffered (pH = 7.0) aqueous solutions were investigated using two different approaches. In the first approach, the effects of the concentration of peptide used as its own probe (intrinsic probe) on its fluorescence emission, circular dichroism, surface tension, and solution pH yielded similar critical peptide concentrations of around 175 microM. This particular concentration was taken as evidence for peptide aggregation. In the second approach, peptide aggregation was investigated using cationic metalloporphyrins, tetrakis(N-methyl-4-pyridyl)porphyrin (Pd(II)TMPyP(4+) and Zn(II)TMPyP(4+)), as extrinsic probes. The effect of peptide concentration on porphyrin ground-state absorption confirmed peptide aggregation, but at a lower critical peptide concentration near 125 microM. This difference was attributed to the possible distortion introduced by the association of one (or more) large metalloporphyrin molecule with the peptide aggregates. Evidence for peptide aggregation was also demonstrated from the effect of peptide concentration on Pd(II)TMPyP(4+) triplet-state decay. The fast component (k(f), associated with electron transfer from the target Tyr and Trp residues to the porphyrin triplet state) was found to be independent of peptide concentration, implying no noticeable effect of peptide aggregation on the electron-transfer event. This was attributed to the fact that species formed by excitation of porphyrin associated with ion-pair complexes or bound to peptide aggregates and the diffusion together of the separate T(1) and peptide entities in the bulk phase are kinetically similar. On the other hand, the slower component (k(s)) of the decay, which is associated with the diffuse formation of an encounter complex between the free peptide and T(1) porphyrin (bulk phase), was peptide-dependent and displayed a critical peptide concentration near 125 microM, above which it became practically independent of peptide concentration. This invariance of k(s) was taken as an indication that the free peptide concentration in the bulk phase remains constant above 125 microM, the concentration at which peptide molecules prefer to associate as aggregates.     

Strategies for generating peptide radical cations via ion/ion reactions

Several approaches for the generation of peptide radical cations using ion/ion reactions coupled with either collision induced dissociation (CID) or ultraviolet photo dissociation (UVPD) are described here. Ion/ion reactions are used to generate electrostatic or covalent complexes comprised of a peptide and a radical reagent. The radical site of the reagent can be generated multiple ways. Reagents containing a carbon–iodine (C―I) bond are subjected to UVPD with 266‐nm photons, which selectively cleaves the C―I bond homolytically. Alternatively, reagents containing azo functionalities are collisionally activated to yield radical sites on either side of the azo group. Both of these methods generate an initial radical site on the reagent, which then abstracts a hydrogen from the peptide while the peptide and reagent are held together by either electrostatic interactions or a covalent linkage. These methods are demonstrated via ion/ion reactions between the model peptide RARARAA (doubly protonated) and various distonic anionic radical reagents. The radical site abstracts a hydrogen atom from the peptide, while the charge site abstracts a proton. The net result is the conversion of a doubly protonated peptide to a peptide radical cation. The peptide radical cations have been fragmented via CID and the resulting product ion mass spectra are compared to the control CID spectrum of the singly protonated, even‐electron species. This work is then extended to bradykinin, a more broadly studied peptide, for comparison with other radical peptide generation methods. The work presented here provides novel methods for generating peptide radical cations in the gas phase through ion/ion reaction complexes that do not require modification of the peptide in solution or generation of non‐covalent complexes in the electrospray process. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A bifunctional vinyl-sulfonium tethered peptide induced by thio-Michael-type addition reaction

The modification and functionalization of peptides is of great significance in modern biotechnology and drug development. Here we report a highly reactive Michael-type warhead for the covalently modification of cysteine on peptide and protein. By installing a vinyl group onto a methionine residue of peptide,the produced vinyl sulfonium can be efficiently nucleophilic added by appropriate cysteine residue of this peptide, and thus yield a cyclized peptide. This peptide cyclization strategy was pr...     

On-resin peptide ligation via C-terminus benzyl ester

Here, we reported a new approach of on-resin peptide ligation using C-terminal benzyl ester as the stabilized precursor of thioester, which enables both N-terminal elongation and C-terminal peptide ligation on a Rink Amide resin.     

General inverse solid-phase synthesis method for C-terminally modified peptide mimetics

Peptide mimetics are of considerable interest as bioactive agents and drugs. C-terminally modified peptide mimetics are of particular interest given the synthetic versatility of the carboxyl group and its derivatives. A general approach to C-terminally modified peptide mimetics, based on a urethane attachment strategy and amino acid t-butyl ester-based N-to-C peptide synthesis, is described. This approach is compatible with the reaction conditions generally employed for solution-phase peptide mimetic synthesis. To develop and demonstrate this approach, it was employed for the solid-phase synthesis of peptide trifluoromethyl ketones, peptide boronic acids, and peptide hydroxamic acids. The development of a versatile general approach to C-terminally modified peptides using readily available starting materials provides a basis for the combinatorial and parallel solid-phase synthesis of these peptide mimetic classes for bioactive agent screening and also provides a basis for the further development of solid-phase C-terminal functional group elaboration strategies.     

Effects of temperature and pH on the helicity of a peptide adsorbed to colloidal silica

The conformation of a cationic -helical peptide (DDDDAAAARRRRR) adsorbed to anionic colloidal silica has been investigated by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy as a function of temperature and pH in order to examine how the structure of an adsorbed molecule responds to two simultaneous perturbations. Increased temperature destabilizes the helicity of the peptide in solution, while pH changes alter the substrate surface charge and the corresponding strength of the interaction with the peptide. Near neutral pH, the helicity of the adsorbed peptide, which is determined from the intensity of the CD signal at 222 nm, decreases with increasing temperature, similarly to the temperature-dependent behavior observed for the peptide in aqueous solution. By contrast, at basic pH and a strongly negative surface charge, the helicity of the adsorbed peptide increases with temperature. In order to elucidate the origin of the reversal of the temperature dependence of helicity, a statistical model for the conformation of the adsorbed peptide has been formulated based on the Lifson–Roig model for the helix–coil transition of the peptide in solution. The model provides insight into the trends in fractional helicity and reveals that the temperature dependence of the helicity of the adsorbed peptide results from a competition between the intramolecular interactions that promote helicity and the intermolecular interactions with the surface. The statistical model also enables estimation of the free energy contributions from specific aspects of the adsorption process. Through identification of a connection between the conformation of adsorbed peptide and the interactions of the peptide with the surface, this work suggests a route for the control of adsorbate conformation through peptide and surface engineering.     

Tuning the Inter‐nanofibril Interaction To Regulate the Morphology and Function of Peptide/DNA Co‐assembled Viral Mimics

The ability to tune the inter‐subunit interaction within the virus capsid may be critical to assembly and biological function. This process was extended here with peptide/DNA co‐assembled viral mimics. The resulting co‐assemblies, formed and stabilized by both peptide nanofibril–DNA and peptide nanofibril–nanofibril interactions, were tuned through hydrophobic packing interactions of the peptide sequences. By strengthening peptide side‐chain complementarity and/or elongating the peptide chain (from 4 to 8 residues), we report strengthening the inter‐nanofibril interaction to create stable nanococoons that give high gene‐transfection efficacy.     

Total synthesis of microcin B17 via a fragment condensation approach

The total synthesis of the 43 amino acid antibacterial peptide Microcin B17 (MccB17) is described. The natural product was synthesized via a convergent approach from a heterocycle-derived peptide and peptide thioester fragments prepared via Fmoc-strategy solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS). Final assembly was achieved in an efficient manner using two Ag(I)-assisted peptide ligation reactions to afford MccB17 in excellent overall yield.     

On-resin peptide ligation via C-terminus benzvl ester

Here, we report a new approach of on-resin peptide ligation using C-terminal benzyl ester as the stabilized precursor of thioester, which enables both N-terminal elongation and C-terminal peptide ligation on a Rink Amide resin. On-resin native chemical ligation and auxiliary-assisted peptide ligation were successfully achieved. This method is compatible to both protected and unprotected peptide fragments and has potential application in poor water-soluble peptide ligation.     

Inverted micelle formation of cell-penetrating peptide studied by coarse-grained simulation: importance of attractive force between cell-penetrating peptides and lipid head group

Arginine-rich peptide and Antennapedia are cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) which have the ability to permeate plasma membrane. Deformation of the plasma membrane with CPPs is the key to understand permeation mechanism. We investigate the dynamics of CPP and the lipid bilayer membrane by coarse-grained simulation. We found that the peptide makes inverted micelle in the lipid bilayer membrane, when the attractive potential between the peptide and lipid heads is strong. The inverted micelle is formed to minimize potential energy of the peptide. For vesicle membrane, the peptide moves from the outer vesicle to the inner vesicle through the membrane. The translocation of the peptide suggests inverted micelle model as a possible mechanism of CPPs.     

Just add water: a new fluorous capping reagent for facile purification of peptides synthesized on the solid phase

A novel fluorous capping reagent is introduced to facilitate purification during solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS). Reagent 1 is a trivalent iodonium salt that reacts vigorously with free amines to deliver a long-chain fluoroalkyl group. It has been used to tag all unreacted amines following the peptide coupling step in SPPS. The resulting fluoroalkylated amine is no longer able to couple in further peptide coupling steps and is also stable to standard peptide synthesis conditions. Deletion products are removed using flash fluorous chromatography to yield the pure, full-length peptide.