Design and synthesis of polytripeptide (leuglnpro)n based upon the matrix protein amelogenin

A linear neutral repetitive peptide, (Leu-Gln-Pro)_n (n = 1-100), an analog of the Ca²⁺ ion-binding domain of the matrix protein, amelogenin, has been synthesized. The polypeptide is mostly unordered in trifluoroethanol (TFE) at 25°C and its circular dichroism (CD) spectrum resembles that of the protein itself. In TFE the CD spectrum of (Leu-Gln-Pro)_n reveals that the polypeptide interacts strongly with divalent cations Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Sr²⁺, and Ba²⁺ accompanied by conformational rearrangement from a random to a more-ordered one. In the presence of Li⁺, Na⁺ and K⁺ ions no such conformational change has been observed. The CD curves of the complexes suggest the presence of type I β-turns and reinforce the hypothesis that the region Gln₁₁₂-Leu₁₃₈ in amelogenin is the Ca²⁺-binding domain. In the solid state, powder X-ray diffraction suggests that the polymeric (LQP)_n may exist as isolated “rigid rods”.