Synthesis of peptides and glycopeptides with polyproline II helical topology as potential antifreeze molecules

A library of peptides and glycopeptides containing (4R)-hydroxy-l-proline (Hyp) residues were designed with a view to providing stable polyproline II (PPII) helical molecules with antifreeze activity. A library of dodecapeptides containing contiguous Hyp residues or an Ala-Hyp-Ala tripeptide repeat sequence were synthesized with and without α-O-linked N-acetylgalactosamine and α-O-linked galactose-β-(1→3)-N-acetylgalactosamine appended to the peptide backbone. All (glyco)peptides possessed PPII helical secondary structure with some showing significant thermal stability. The majority of the (glyco)peptides did not exhibit thermal hysteresis (TH) activity and were not capable of modifying the morphology of ice crystals. However, an unglycosylated Ala-Hyp-Ala repeat peptide did show significant TH and ice crystal re-shaping activity suggesting that it was capable of binding to the surface of ice. All (glyco)peptides synthesized displayed some ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) activity with unglycosylated peptides containing the Ala-Hyp-Ala motif exhibiting the most potent inhibitory activity. Interestingly, although glycosylation is critical to the activity of native antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs) that possess an Ala-Thr-Ala tripeptide repeat, this same structural modification is detrimental to the antifreeze activity of the Ala-Hyp-Ala repeat peptides studied here.     

Comparison of antifreeze glycopeptides from several Antarctic fishes

Summary Antifreeze glycopeptides have been isolated from eight species of antarctic fish representing the families Nototheniidae, Channichthyidae, and Bathydraconidae. Amino acid analysis indicates that the glycopeptides have amino acid compositions identical to previously studied antarctic nototheniids. The sizes of the glycopeptides show some heterogeneity although they all span the molecular weight range of approximately 34,000 to 2,500 daltons. The species studied here are representative of most of the ecological habitats of the Antarctic Ocean.     

Adsorption to ice of fish antifreeze glycopeptides 7 and 8.

Experimental results show that fish antifreeze glycopeptides (AFGPs) 8 and 7 (with 4 and 5 repeats respectively of the Ala-Ala-Thr backbone sequence) bond onto ice prism planes aligned along a-axes, and inhibit crystal growth on prism planes and on surfaces close to that orientation. The 9.31-A repeat spacing of the AFGP in the polyproline II helix configuration, deduced from NMR studies, matches twice the repeat spacing of ice in the deduced alignment direction, 9.038 A, within 3%. A specific binding model is proposed for the AFGP and for the alpha-helical antifreeze peptide of winter flounder. For AFGP 7-8, two hydroxyl groups of each disaccharide (one disaccharide is attached to each threonine) reside within the ice surface, so that they are shared between the ice crystal and the disaccharide. This provides 24 hydrogen bonds between AFGP 8 and the ice and 30 for AFGP 7, explaining why the chemical adsorption is virtually irreversible and the crystal growth can be stopped virtually completely. The same scheme of sharing polar groups with the ice works well with the alpha-helical antifreeze of winter flounder, for which an amide as well as several hydroxyls are shared. The sharing of polar groups with the ice crystal, rather than hydrogen-bonding to the ice surface, may be a general requirement for adsoprtion-inhibition of freezing.     

The cryoprotective effect of antifreeze glycopeptides from antarctic fishes.

Apparently vitrified cells and tissues often fail to survive, probably from damage from growth of microscopically invisible ice crystals. Special biological antifreezes from some polar fishes have been shown to adsorb to specific faces of ice crystals and inhibit crystal growth. Vitrification in the presence of antifreezes therefore may help enhance postvitrification viability of cells and tissues. We report here that the addition of fish antifreeze glycopeptides (AFGPs) to vitrifying solutions increases post-thaw viability in cultured immature pig oocytes and two-cell stage embryos of mice and pigs after rapid cooling to cryogenic temperatures. The criterion for viability is maturation to metaphase for the oocytes and the ability to develop into the four-cell stage for the pig embryo and the blastocyst stage for the mouse embryo. Without AFGPs, or with addition of antifreeze peptides (AFPs), the particular vitrifying solution and cooling/warming/culturing regime used in this study produced zero viability. In the presence of the AFGPs (40 mg/ml), survival of pig oocytes and embryos was increased to about 25%, and that of mouse embryos to 82%. Dose-response studies for the mouse embryos showed that the protective effect of AFGPs shows saturation kinetics and levels off at 20 mg/ml. The AFGPs appeared to preserve cell membrane structural integrity; however, an intact cell membrane did not always lead to viability. The absence of protective effect by AFPs suggests that protection by the AFGPs is unrelated to their common antifreeze property, i.e., inhibition of ice crystal growth, but probably results from interaction with and stabilization of the cell membranes unique to the AFGPs.     

Conformational study of glycopeptides. Asn-containing peptides and their glycosylated derivatives

The conformational feature has been studied by n.m.r. spectroscopy on the compounds, Boc-Asn-NHMe, Boc-Asn-Gly-NHMe, Boc-Gly-Asn-NHMe, and their glycosylated derivatives. From the temperature dependence of the amide proton chemical shifts and vicinal coupling constants, little change was confirmed in the peptide conformation upon N-glycosylation. There is no particular intramolecular interaction between the peptide and carbohydrate moieties. Boc-Asn-Gly-NHMe takes, to some extent, a folded structure with a hydrogen bond involving the amide proton of N-methylamide group. This backbone conformation is also preferable in the corresponding glycopeptide.     

The effect of antifreeze glycopeptides on membrane potential changes at hypothermic temperatures

The research on antifreeze glycopeptides (AFGPs) from Antarctic and Arctic fishes has focused primarily on their interaction with ice crystals. This study reports results of experiments in which pig oocytes, known to be sensitive to hypothermic temperatures, were exposed to 4 degrees C for various periods of time, in solutions of different molecular weight AFGPs from Antarctic nototheniid fishes. The membrane potential was measured across the oolemma following hypothermic exposure. The results show that a physiological combination of the different molecular weight AFGPs protects the structural integrity of the oolemma and inhibits ion leakage across the oolemma at hypothermic temperatures. The results also show that the hypothermic protection is nonlinearly dependent on concentration and that separately, the different molecular weight glycopeptides do not stop ion leakage even at very high concentration. The protection of membranes at hypothermic temperatures is a new property of AFGPs which was not known prior to our work.     

Purification and primary sequences of the major arginine-containing antifreeze glycopeptides from the fish Eleginus gracilis

An Arg-containing antifreeze glycoprotein from the polar fish Eleginus gracilis was isolated, and the major components were purified to homogeneity. The general protocol for purification was chromatography of serum on DEAE-cellulose, followed by chromatography on a cation exchanger. DEAE-cellulose chromatography resulted in two fractions, A and B. Fraction A contained most of the antifreeze glycoprotein found in E. gracilis (approximately 80% by weight) and consisted of 13 distinct components. Unlike antifreeze glycoproteins from other previously studied polar fish, Fraction A contained both low and high molecular weight antifreeze glycoprotein components. The two major components of Fraction A were sequenced and compared with the sequence of antifreeze glycoproteins 7 and 8 from both Boreogadus saida and Pagothenia borchgrevinki. The antifreeze glycoproteins from E. gracilis were shown to have a similar composition to those previously studied, except for an additional Ala-Arg dipeptide at the carbon terminal in the major components of Fraction A and the position of Pro in the low molecular weight components. The activity of E. gracilis antifreeze glycoproteins is the subject of a companion article (Burcham, T. S., Osuga, D. T., Yeh, Y., and Feeney, R. E. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 6390-6397).     

Synthesis and characterization of flavin modified oligodeoxyribonucleotide.

Oligonucleotides covalently linked to isoalloxazines via polymethylene linker were synthesized and characterized. The thymidine decamer having a primary aminoalkyl group at the 5'-end of internucleotide linkage was coupled with the activated ester of isoalloxazine in liquid-phase. The interaction of the flavin modified thymidine decamers with polydA was investigated by using spectrophotometric method.     

Solid phase synthesis and conformation of sequential glycosylated polytripeptide sequences related to antifreeze glycoproteins

Sequential glycopeptides [Thr(beta-D-galactose)-Ala-Ala]n, with n ranging from 2 to 7, as models of natural antifreeze glycoproteins were synthesized by the continuous flow, solid phase procedure. The conformational properties of these materials in solution were investigated by c.d. and 1H-n.m.r. spectroscopy. In aqueous solution the c.d. pattern is practically independent of chain length and is very similar to that of natural antifreeze glycoproteins. The results are interpreted in terms of random coil structure. The absence of ordered structures is further confirmed by n.m.r. data. A small amount of ordered conformation can be induced either by increasing the temperature of the aqueous solution or by addition of TFE. The c.d. pattern of all glycopeptides in water at temperatures higher than 50 degrees C are compatible with the presence of a small amount of alpha-helix or 3(10) helix. Since the glyco-hexapeptide is too short to form an alpha-helix, the hypothesis is made that in the glycopeptides in water at high temperature a small amount of 3(10) helix is formed. The same is observed for the 21-residue glycopeptide in presence of 85% (v/v) TFE. In this medium, the c.d. data on the glyco-hexapeptide are more compatible with the presence of a small amount of beta-structure.     

Relationship of amino acid composition and molecular weight of antifreeze glycopeptides to non-colligative freezing point depression

Many polar fishes synthesize a group of eight glycopeptides that exhibit a non-colligative lowering of the freezing point of water. These glycopeptides range in molecular weight between 2600 and 33700. The largest glycopeptides [1–5] lower the freezing point more than the small ones on a weight basis and contain only two amino acids, alanine and threonine, with the disaccharide galactose-N-acetyl-galactosamine attached to threonine. The smaller glycopeptides, 6, 7, and 8, also lower the freezing point and contain proline, which periodically substitutes for alanine. Glycopeptides with similar antifreeze properties isolated from the saffron cod and the Atlantic tomcod contain an additional amino acid, arginine, which substitutes for threonine in glycopeptide 6. In this study we address the question of whether differences in amino acid composition or molecular weight between large and small glycopeptides are responsible for the reduced freezing point depressing capability of the low molecular weight glycopeptides. The results indicate that the degree of amino acid substitutions that occur in glycopeptides 6–8 do not have a significant effect on the unusual freezing point lowering and that the observed decrease in freezing point depression with smaller glycopeptides can be accounted for on the basis of molecular weight.     

Synthesis and characterization of water-soluble glucosyloxyethyl acrylate modified chitosan

A novel water-soluble chitosan derivative, glucosyloxyethyl acrylated chitosan was successfully synthesized by Michael addition reaction of chitosan with glucosyloxyethyl acrylate (GEA), and the obtained glyco-chitosan derivative was characterized by FT-IR, (1)H NMR, elemental analysis, XRD, TG, DSC and SEM. The FT-IR and (1)H NMR results showed that GEA residues were grafted onto the amino group of chitosan. The degree of substitution (DS) was calculated by elemental analysis. XRD data revealed that the introduced saccharide moieties decreased the crystalline structure of chitosan. TG and DSC results demonstrated that the glucosyloxyethyl acrylated chitosan was less thermal stable than chitosan. This efficient synthetic method provided an approach of preparing water-soluble glyco-chitosan derivatives. The obtained derivatives would show stronger specific affinity of lectin than chitosan thus would have potential applications in biomaterials.     

Synthesis and characterization of a novel boronic acid-functionalized chitosan polymeric nanosphere for highly specific enrichment of glycopeptides

In this study we describe a method for highly specific enrichment of glycopeptides with boronic acid-functionalized chitosan polymeric nanospheres and matrix assisted laser desorption-ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). This is the first time chitosan has been used to create nanosphere support material for selective enrichment of glycopeptides by modification with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and derivatization with 3-aminophenylboronic acid (APB). Due to their multifunctional chemical moieties, these 20-100nm chitosan-GMA-APB nanospheres have unique properties, such as good dispersibility, good biocompatibility and chemical stability, as well as augmented specificity with glycopeptides. Enrichment conditions were optimized by using trypsin digested glycoprotein horseradish peroxidase. The high specificity of chitosan-GMA-APB nanospheres was demonstrated by effectively enriching glycopeptides from a digest mixture of horseradish peroxidase and nonglycoproteins (bovine serum albumin (BSA)).     

Structural studies on rabbit transferrin: isolation and characterization of the glycopeptides

The structure of rabbit transferrin was investigated with regard to number, size, and composition of the heteropolysaccharide units and their relative location on the polypeptide chain. The composition and molecular weight of the Pronase glycopeptides revealed that rabbit transferrin contains two heteropolysaccharide units, each composed of 2 sialic acid residues, 2 galactose residues, 3 mannose residues, and 4-N-acetylglucosamine residues. The composition and molecular weight of the tryptic glycopeptides further substantiated the existence of two identical heteropolysaccharide units and revealed that both units have identical amino acid residues in the immediate vicinity of the carbohydrate attachment sites to the polypeptide chain, suggesting a sequence homology surrounding the two glycosylation sites. Characterization of the cyanogen bromide fragments from rabbit transferrin indicated that both heteropolysaccharide units are located within a single polypeptide fragment representing approximately one-third of the molecule.     

hnRNP G: sequence and characterization of a glycosylated RNA-binding protein.

The autoantigen p43 is a nuclear protein initially identified with autoantibodies from dogs with a lupus-like syndrome. Here we show that p43 is an RNA-binding protein, and identify it as hnRNP G, a previously described component of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein complexes. We demonstrate that p43/hnRNP G is glycosylated, and identify the modification as O-linked N-acetylglucosamine. A full-length cDNA clone for hnRNP G has been isolated and sequenced, and the predicted amino acid sequence for hnRNP G shows that it contains one RNP-consensus RNA binding domain (RBD) at the amino terminus and a carboxyl domain rich in serines, arginines and glycines. The RBD of human hnRNP G shows striking similarities with the RBDs of several plant RNA-binding proteins.     

Synthesis and accumulation of mannose-containing glycopeptides in human fibroblast cells possible separate pathways for neutral and acidic glycopeptides

The normal human fibroblast, WI-38, was labelled with radioactive mannose and its incorporation, as well as the accumulation of acidic and neutral glycopeptides on the cell surface, was followed as a function of time. The transit time of newly made Pronase-released cell surface glycopeptides from their intracellular site of synthesis to the cell surface was slower in nongrowing cells than in a rapidly growing culture. When the surface glycopeptides were separated by high-voltage paper electrophoresis into neutral and acidic species, it was observed that the cell surface material was initially enriched with neutral glycopeptides. However, with time the relative proportion of acidic species increased so that by 3 h the ratio between the acidica and neutral species approached a constant value. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that multiple pathways for asparagine-linked glycoprotein biosynthesis are possible.     

A natural variant of type I antifreeze protein with four ice-binding repeats is a particularly potent antifreeze.

A 4.3-kDa variant of Type I antifreeze protein (AFP9) was purified from winter flounder serum by size exclusion chromatography and reversed-phase HPLC. By the criteria of mass, amino acid composition, and N-terminal sequences of tryptic peptides, this variant is the posttranslationally modified product of the previously characterized AFP gene 21a. It has 52 amino acids and contains four 11-amino acid repeats, one more than the major serum AFP components. The larger protein is completely alpha-helical at 0 degree C, with a melting temperature of 18 degrees C. It is considerably more active as an antifreeze than the three-repeat winter flounder AFP and the four-repeat yellowtail flounder AFP, both on a molar and a mg/mL basis. Several structural features of the four-repeat winter flounder AFP, including its larger size, additional ice-binding residues, and differences in ice-binding motifs might contribute to its greater activity. Its abundance in flounder serum, together with its potency as an antifreeze, suggest that AFP9 makes a significant contribution to the overall freezing point depression of the host.