Structure of synthetic peptide analogues of an eggshell protein of Schistosoma mansoni. |
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Authors: | C R Middaugh J A Thomson C J Burke H Mach A M Naylor M J Bogusky J A Ryan S M Pitzenberger H Ji and J S Cordingley |
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Institution: | Department of Pharmaceutical Research, Merck Research Laboratories, West Point, Pennsylvania 19486. |
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Abstract: | The peptide (Gly-L-Tyr-L-Asp-L-Lys-L-Tyr)6, referred to as F4-6, was synthesized as a model for a schistosome eggshell protein in which the Gly-Tyr-Asp-Lys-Tyr consensus sequence is repeated over 40 times. Analysis by CD, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, potentiometric and spectrophotomertric titrations, NMR, and molecular modeling suggests that F4-6 forms some type of left-handed structure. A likely possibility appears to be a left-handed alpha-helix stabilized by Lysi-Aspi +4 salt bridges and possibly Aspi-Tyri +4 hydrogen bonding and Tyr-Tyr interactions. Spectroscopic studies of a number of F4-6 analogues support this conclusion. For example, substitution of D-Ala for Gly produces a peptide with enhanced left-handed helical spectral characteristics, whereas an L-Ala substitution results in a peptide with minimal structure. These studies suggest that the F4 protein from Schistosoma mansoni may be the first example of a naturally occurring protein devoid of proline and carbohydrate that forms a left-handed helix composed of L-amino acids, although alternative forms of other left-handed structures have yet to be rigorously excluded. |
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Keywords: | F4-6 peptide Schistosoma manson schistosome eggshell protein |
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