Synthesis and conformational analysis of salivary proline‐rich peptide P‐B

The 57‐amino acid human salivary polypeptide P‐B has been synthesized by the solid‐phase method using 9‐fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) strategy. The circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and molecular modeling methods have been used for conformational studies of P‐B. Examination of the CD spectra of P‐B showed the content of the secondary structure to be independent of temperature over the range 0–60 °C at pH = 7 as well as over the pH range of 2–12 at 37 °C. P‐B adopts predominantly unordered structure with locally appearing β‐turns. The cumulative results obtained using the CD and FTIR spectroscopic techniques indicate the percentage of the polyproline type‐II (PPII) helix being as low as about 10%. Similarly, the molecular dynamics (MD) simulations reveal only a short PPII helix in the C‐terminal fragment of the peptide (Pro⁵¹–Pro⁵⁴), which constitutes 7%. Copyright © 2010 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

G-quartet self-assembly under osmotic pressure: remote control by vesicle shrinking rather than stress

Does osmotic pressure stimulate assembly or disassembly of supramolecules in vesicles? Self‐assembly was conceivable as intravesicular response to osmotic shrinking upon application of extravesicular overpressure, whereas disassembly was conceivable as a response to bilayer stress in hyperosmotic vesicles. Self‐assembly of guanosine 5′‐monophosphates (GMPs) into G‐quartets was selected to investigate the nature of remote control of supramolecular chemistry within vesicles by osmotic pressure. Using circular dichroism spectroscopy to selectively detect G‐quartets, we found that extravesicular overpressure stimulates intravesicular self‐assembly, whereas underpressure stimulates disassembly. G‐quartet self‐assembly by osmotic pressure exhibited ion‐selective metal‐cation templation, as expected. The key conclusions are that supramolecular chemistry within vesicles is governed by vesicle shape rather than vesicle stress and that detection of osmotic pressure by CD spectroscopy is an interesting alternative to the commonly used methods based on fluorescence self‐quenching. Chirality 15:766–771, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Chiral Amine Enantiomeric Excess Determination Using Self‐Assembled Octahedral Fe(II)‐Imine Complexes

A receptor assembly composed of iron(II) triflate and pyridine‐2,6‐dicarbaldehyde was used to determine the enantiomeric excess (ee) of alpha‐chiral primary amines using circular dichroism spectroscopy. The alpha chiral amines condense with the dialdehyde to form a diimine, which forms a 2:1 octahedral complex with iron(II). The ee values of unknown concentrations of alpha‐chiral amines were determined by constructing calibration curves for each amine and then measuring the ellipticity at 600 nm. This improves our previously reported assay for ee determination of chiral primary amines by further increasing the wavelength at which CD is measured and reducing the absolute error of the assay. Chirality 27:294–298, 2015. 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A stereodynamic fluorescent probe for amino acids. Circular dichroism and circularly polarized luminescence analysis

The use of stereodynamic probes is becoming one of the leading strategies for the fast and effective determination of enantiomeric excess. Recently, we reported a series of novel molecular architectures based on a modified tris(2‐pyridylmethyl)amine complex (TPMA), which are able to amplify the electronic CD, in the case of Zn(II) assemblies and vibrational CD, in the case of Co(II) assemblies. Herein, we report a structural modification of the ligand with the purpose to obtain a fluorescent chiral probe. The study deals with the synthesis of the novel ligand, the formation of the self‐assembly system with amino acids, and the study of the electronic CD and circularly polarized luminescence.     

The use of circular dichroism spectroscopy for studying the chiral molecular self-assembly: an overview

Self-assembly plays an important role in the formation of many chiral biological structures and in the preparation of chiral functional materials. Therefore the control of chirality in synthetic or biological self-assembled systems is important either for the comprehension of recognition phenomena or to obtain materials with predictable and controllable properties. Circular dichroism was developed to study molecular chirality, however, because of its outstanding sensitivity to chiral perturbations of the system under investigation; it has been extended more recently to supramolecular chemistry. In particular, self-assembly processes leading to the formation of chiral supramolecular architectures (and eventually to gels or liquid crystal phases) can be monitored by CD. Furthermore, CD spectroscopy often allows one to obtain structural information on the assembled structures. This review deals with representative contributions to the study of supramolecular chirality by means of circular dichroism.     

Solid-phase synthesis of MEN 11270, a new cyclic peptide kinin B2 receptor antagonist.

An efficient synthesis of the cyclic decapeptide MEN 11270 [H-DArg1-Arg2 Pro3-Hyp4-Gly5-Thi6-Dab7-DTic8-Oic9-Arg10 c(7gamma - 10alpha)] was developed. Two three-dimensional orthogonal strategies were applied and compared: Fmoc/Tos/Boc (procedure A) and Fmoc/Pmc/Dde (procedure B). Both resulted in a 23-step strategy comprising the stepwise solid-phase chain assembly of the linear protected peptide, partial deprotection, solution-phase cyclization and final full deprotection. The stepwise assembly of the linear peptide was optimized by double coupling and acylation time prolongation for critical residues (Tic, Dab, Thi, Pro). O-(7-azabenzotriazol-1-yl)-N,N,N',N' tetramethyluronium (HATU) was preferred as coupling reagent for Dab. In the cyclization step, the partial racemization of Arg10 (31% using 1-ethyl-3-(3'-dimethyl-aminopropyl) carbodiimide/1-hydroxybenzotriazole (EDC/HOBt) as activation system) was reduced to 3% with HATU. The final deprotection was performed in the presence of dimethylsulfide (procedure A) and thiocresol (procedure B) as scavengers, to avoid the sulfation of Hyp side chain. The final compound and the main by-products were characterized by mass spectroscopy (MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and racemization test. Procedure B produced operationally simpler and more efficient results than A (28% overall yield versus 4%).     

Protamine‐induced condensation of peptide nanofilaments into twisted bundles with controlled helical geometry

Chiral self‐assembly of peptides is of fundamental interest in the field of biology and material science. Protamine, an alkaline biomacromolecule which is ubiquitous in fish and mammalian, plays crucial roles in directing the helical twisting of DNA. Inspired by this, we reported a bioinspired pathway to direct the hierarchical chiral self‐assembly of a short synthetic dipeptide. The peptide could self‐assemble into negatively charged chiral micelles in water that spontaneously formed a nematic liquid crystalline phase. By incorporation with protamine, the micelles condensed with the protamine into large helical bundles with precisely controlled diameter. Furthermore, to simulate the intracellular environments, we investigated macromolecular crowding on the coassembly of peptide and protamine, which leads to the formation of much thinner helical structures. The results highlight the roles of highly charged biomacromolecules and macromolecular crowding on peptide self‐assembly, which are beneficial for the practical applications of self‐assembling peptides in biomedicine and sensing.     

CD Spectroscopy of Peptides and Proteins Bound to Large Unilamellar Vesicles

Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy is an essential tool for determining the conformation of proteins and peptides in membranes. It can be particularly useful for measuring the free energy of partitioning of peptides into lipid vesicles. The belief is broadly held that such CD measurements can only be made using sonicated small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) because light scattering associated with extruded large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) is unacceptably high. We have examined this issue using several experimental approaches in which a chiral object (i.e., peptide or protein) is placed both on the membrane and outside the membrane. We show that accurate CD spectra can be collected in the presence of LUVs. This is important because SUVs, unlike LUVs, are metastable and consequently unsuitable for equilibrium thermodynamic measurements. Our data reveal that undistorted CD spectra of peptides can be measured at wavelengths above 200 nm in the presence of up to 3 mM LUVs and above 215 nm in the presence of up to 7 mM LUVs. We introduce a simple way of characterizing the effect on CD spectra of light scattering and absorption arising from suspensions of vesicles of any diameter. Using melittin as an example, we show that CD spectroscopy can be used to determine the fractional helical content of peptides in LUVs and to measure their free energy of partitioning of into LUVs.     

Self‐assembly of lipid rafts revealed by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy in living breast cancer cells

Lipids and proteins in the plasma membrane are laterally heterogeneous and formalised as lipid rafts featuring unique biophysical properties. However, the self‐assembly mechanism of lipid raft cannot be revealed even its physical properties and components were determined in specific physiological processes. In this study, two‐photon generalised polarisation imaging and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy were used to study the fusion of lipid rafts through the membrane phase and the lateral diffusion of lipids in living breast cancer cells. A self‐assembly model of lipid rafts associated with lipid diffusion and membrane phase was proposed to demonstrate the lipid sorting ability of lipid rafts in the plasma membrane. The results showed that the increased proportion of slow subdiffusion of G_M1‐binding cholera toxin B‐subunit (CT‐B) was accompanied with an increased liquid‐ordered domain during the β‐estradiol‐induced fusion of lipid rafts. And slow subdiffusion of CT‐B was vanished with the depletion of lipid rafts. Whereas the dialkylindocarbocyanine (DiIC₁₈) diffusion was not specifically regulated by lipid rafts. This study will open up a new insight for uncovering the self‐assembly of lipid rafts in specific pathophysiological processes.     

Self‐assembly and chiral recognition of quartz crystal microbalance chiral sensor

A novel chiral sensor based on the self‐assembled monolayer of (6^A‐ω‐mercaptoethylureado‐6^A‐deoxy)heptakis(2,3‐di‐o‐phenylcarbamoyl)‐6^B, 6^C, 6^D, 6^E, 6^F, 6^G‐ hexa‐o‐phenylcarbamoyl‐β‐cyclodextrin (Ph‐β‐CD‐SH) on a quartz crystal transducer for chiral recognition was set up. (R,S)‐(±)‐(3‐Methoxyphenyl)ethylamine were recognized by this QCM chiral sensor with a QCM chiral discrimination factor of 1.33. Furthermore, UV spectroscopy was used to investigate the mechanism of host‐guest interactions between (6^A‐azido‐6^A‐deoxy)heptakis(2,3‐di‐o‐phenylcarbamoyl)‐6^B, 6^C, 6^D, 6^E, 6^F, 6^G‐hexa‐o‐phenylcarbamoyl‐β‐cyclodextrin (Ph‐β‐CD) and (R,S)‐(±)‐(3‐methoxyphenyl) ethylamine. The UV discrimination factor was determined to be 0.066. Chirality, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Self‐assembly of short peptides composed of only aliphatic amino acids and a combination of aromatic and aliphatic amino acids

The morphology of structures formed by the self‐assembly of short N‐terminal t‐butyloxycarbonyl (Boc) and C‐terminal methyl ester (OMe) protected and Boc‐deprotected hydrophobic peptide esters was investigated. We have observed that Boc‐protected peptide esters composed of either only aliphatic hydrophobic amino acids or aliphatic hydrophobic amino acids in combination with aromatic amino acids, formed highly organized structures, when dried from methanol solutions. Transmission and scanning electron microscopic images of the peptides Boc‐Ile‐Ile‐OMe, Boc‐Phe‐Phe‐Phe‐Ile‐Ile‐OMe and Boc‐Trp‐Ile‐Ile‐OMe showed nanotubular structures. Removal of the Boc group resulted in disruption of the ability to form tubular structures though spherical aggregates were formed. Both Boc‐Leu‐Ile‐Ile‐OMe and H‐Leu‐Ile‐Ile‐OMe formed only spherical nanostructures. Dynamic light scattering studies showed that aggregates of varying dimensions were present in solution suggesting that self‐assembly into ordered structures is facilitated by aggregation in solution. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and circular dichroism spectroscopy data show that although all four of the protected peptides adopt well‐defined tertiary structures, upon removal of the Boc group, only H‐Phe‐Phe‐Phe‐Ile‐Ile‐OMe had the ability to adopt β‐structure. Our results indicate that hydrophobic interaction is a very important determinant for self‐assembly and presence of charged and aromatic amino acids in a peptide is not necessary for self‐assembly. Copyright © 2012 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Circular dichroism of surface complexes based on quantum dots and azo dye

Chiral properties of surface complexes based on CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) and 1‐(2‐pyridylazo)‐2‐naphthol (PAN) azo dye were investigated by circular dichroism spectroscopy. The use of L‐, D‐cysteine (Lcys, Dcys) capping ligands allowed us to obtain water‐soluble chiral QD‐PAN complexes. The characterization of the complexes was performed by UV‐vis, FTIR, and CD spectroscopy. Quantum chemical TDDFT calculated CD spectra reproduced the experimentally observed sign patterns, which originate from binding Lcys or Dcys and PAN molecules to the same Zn atom on the QD surface. The resulting complex is characterized by a large circular dichroism in comparison with an ordinary QD chirality induced by cysteine molecules. The pattern of CD signal is the same for Lcys and Dcys ligands in chiral QD‐PAN complex.     

Synthesis and Chiral Recognition of Nickel(II) Macrocyclic Complex with (R)‐Naphthylethyleneamine Pendant Groups and its Self‐Assembled Framework

A novel nickel(II) hexaaza macrocyclic complex, [Ni(L^R,R)](ClO₄)₂ ( 1 ), containing chiral pendant groups was synthesized by an efficient one‐pot template condensation and characterized (L^R,R═1,8‐di((R)‐α‐methylnaphthyl)‐1,3,6,8,10,13‐hexaazacyclotetradecane). The crystal structure of compound 1 was determined by single‐crystal X‐ray analysis. The complex was found to have a square‐planar coordination environment for the nickel(II) ion. Open framework [Ni(L^R,R)]₃[C₆H₃(COO)₃]₂ ( 2 ) was constructed from the self‐assembly of compound 1 with deprotonated 1,3,5‐benzenetricarboxylic acid, BTC^3?. Chiral discrimination of rac‐1,1′‐bi‐2‐naphthol and rac‐2,2,2‐trifluoro‐1‐(9‐anthryl)ethanol was performed to determine the chiral recognition ability of the chiral complex ( 1 ) and its self‐assembled framework ( 2 ). Binaphthol showed a good chiral discrimination on the framework ( 2 ). The optimum experimental conditions for the chiral discrimination were examined by changing the weight ratio between the macrocyclic complex 1 or self‐assembled framework 2 and racemates. The detailed synthetic procedures, spectroscopic data including single‐crystal X‐ray analysis, and the results of the chiral recognition for the compounds are described. Chirality, 25:54‐58, 2013 © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Liquid and subcritical fluid chromatographic enantioseparation of Nα‐Fmoc proteinogenic amino acids on Quinidine‐based zwitterionic and anion‐exchanger type chiral stationary phases. A comparative study

Stereoselective high‐performance liquid chromatographic and subcritical fluid chromatographic separations of 19 N^α‐Fmoc proteinogenic amino acid enantiomers were carried out by using Quinidine ‐based zwitterionic and anion‐exchanger‐type chiral stationary phases Chiralpak ZWIX(−) and QD‐AX. For optimization of retention and enantioselectivity, the ratio of bulk solvent components (MeOH/MeCN, H₂O/MeOH, or CO₂/MeOH) and the nature and concentration of the acid and base additives (counter‐ and co‐ions) were systematically varied. The effect of column temperature on the enantioseparation was investigated and thermodynamic parameters were calculated from the van't Hoff plots ln α vs. 1/T. The thermodynamic parameters revealed that the enantioseparations were enthalpy‐driven. The elution sequence was determined in all cases and with the exception of Fmoc‐Cys(Trt)‐OH, it was identical on both chiral stationary phases whereby the L‐enantiomers eluted before the D‐enantiomers.     

A novel noninvasive procedure for high‐throughput screening of major seed traits

The large numbers of samples processed in breeding and biodiversity programmes require the development of efficient methods for the nondestructive evaluation of basic seed properties. Near‐infrared spectroscopy is the state‐of‐the‐art solution for this analytical demand, but it also has some limitations. Here, we present a novel, rapid, accurate procedure based on time domain‐nuclear magnetic resonance (TD‐NMR), designed to simultaneously quantify a number of basic seed traits without any seed destruction. Using a low‐field, benchtop ¹H‐NMR instrument, the procedure gives a high‐accuracy measurement of oil content (R² = 0.98), carbohydrate content (R² = 0.99), water content (R² = 0.98) and both fresh and dry weight of seeds/grains (R² = 0.99). The method requires a minimum of ~20 mg biomass per sample and thus enables to screen individual, intact seeds. When combined with an automated sample delivery system, a throughput of ~1400 samples per day is achievable. The procedure has been trialled as a proof of concept on cereal grains (collection of ~3000 accessions of Avena spp. curated at the IPK genebank). A mathematical multitrait selection approach has been designed to simplify the selection of outlying (most contrasting) accessions. To provide deeper insights into storage oil topology, some oat accessions were further analysed by three‐dimensional seed modelling and lipid imaging. We conclude that the novel TD‐NMR‐based screening tool opens perspectives for breeding and plant biology in general.     

Indirect synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy and direct high‐performance thin‐layer chromatographic methods for enantioseperation of zopiclone and determination of chiral‐switching eszopiclone: Evaluation of thermodynamic quantities of chromatographic separation

Economic and enantioselective synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy and high‐performance thin‐layer chromatography methods have been developed and validated as per ICH guidelines for the separation of zopiclone enantiomers using L‐(+)‐tartaric acid as a chiral selector, followed by determination of the chiral‐switching eszopiclone. Synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy was successfully applied for chiral recognition of R & S enantiomers of zopiclone at ?λ = 110 nm based on creating of diastereomeric complexes with 0.06M tartaric acid in an aqueous medium containing 0.2M disodium hydrogen orthophosphate. Synchronous fluorescence intensities of eszopiclone were recorded at 296 nm in concentration range 0.2‐ to 4‐μg/mL eszopiclone. High‐performance thin‐layer chromatography method depends on resolution of zopiclone enantiomers on achiral HPTLC silica‐gel plates using acetonitrile:methanol:water (8:2:0.25, v/v/v) containing L‐(+)‐tartaric acid as a chiral mobile‐phase additive followed by densitometric measurements at 304 nm in concentration range of 1 to 10 μg/band of eszopiclone. The effect of chiral‐selector concentration, pH, and temperature on the resolution have been studied and optimized for the proposed methods. The cited procedures were successfully applied to determine eszopiclone in commercial tablets of pure and racemic forms. Enantiomeric excess was evaluated using optical purity test and integrated peak area to describe the enantiomeric ratio. Thermodynamics of chromatographic separation, enthalpy, and entropy were evaluated using the Van't Hoff equation. The proposed methods were found to be selective for identification and determination of the eutomer in drug substances and products.     

Evaluation of four hematology and a chemistry portable benchtop analyzers using non-human primate blood

Background  Near patient testing (NPT) and point-of-care testing (POCT) using portable benchtop analyzers has become necessary in many areas of the medical community, including biocontainment.
Methods  We evaluated the Beckman AcT diff, Abaxis Vetscan HMII (two instruments), Abbott Cell-Dyn 1800, and Abaxis Vetscan VS2 for within-run precision and correlation to central laboratory instruments using non-human primates blood.
Results  Compared with the central laboratory instruments, the Beckman AcT diff correlated on 80%; the HMII instruments on 31% and 44%, the CD1800 on 31%, and the VS2 on 71% of assays. For assays with published manufacturers precision guidelines, the AcT diff met all nine, the HMII instruments met one and six of six, and the CD 1800 met one of six.
Conclusions  Laboratories using NPT/POCT must test their individual instruments for precision and correlation, identify assays that are reliable, and exclude or develop supplemental procedures for assays that are not.     

Helical screw sense bias in chiral polyfluorene stimulated by solvent

Conjugated homopolymer poly(9,9‐bis(3‐((S )‐2‐methylbutylpropanoate))fluorene) (PSF) with chiral pendants was synthesized and characterized. Dissolution experiments show that PSF is well dissolved in racemic limonene at high temperature and begins aggregating upon sequential cooling treatment. The corresponding assemblies were transferred to quartz plate by the spin‐coating method. Comparably, film casting from chloroform solution was also prepared. Upon annealing thermal treatments, these PSF films exhibited perfect mirror circular dichroism (CD) Cotton effects and dissymmetry ratios. Optical absorption spectroscopy (UV‐vis), CD, and fluorescence spectroscopy results reveal that chiral side chains successfully induced M ‐ and P ‐helical structures in aggregates and films, and this significant difference was ascribed to their differential supramolecular conformations.     

Evidence of π‐stacking interactions in the self‐assembly of hIAPP22‐29

The role aromatic amino acids play in the formation of amyloid is a subject of controversy. In an effort to clarify the contribution of aromaticity to the self‐assembly of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP)_22‐29, peptide analogs containing electron donating groups (EDGs) or electron withdrawing groups (EWGs) as substituents on the aromatic ring of Phe‐23 at the para position have been synthesized and characterized using turbidity measurements in conjunction with Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy. Results indicate the incorporation of EDGs on the aromatic ring of Phe‐23 virtually abolish the ability of hIAPP_22‐29 to form amyloid. Peptides containing EWGs were still capable of forming aggregates. These aggregates were found to be rich in β‐sheet secondary structure. Transmission electron microscopy images of the aggregates confirm the presence of amyloid fibrils. The observed difference in amyloidogenic propensity between peptides containing EDGs and those with EWGs appears not to be based on differences in peptide hydrophobicity. Fluorescence and Raman spectroscopic investigations reveal that the environment surrounding the aromatic ring becomes more hydrophobic and ordered upon aggregation. Furthermore, Raman measurements of peptide analogs containing EWGs, conclusively demonstrate a distinct downshift in the ? C?C? ring mode (ca. 1600 cm^?1) upon aggregation that has previously been shown to be indicative of π‐stacking. While previous work has demonstrated that π‐stacking is not an absolute requirement for fibrillization, our findings indicate that Phe‐23 also contributes to fibril formation through π‐stacking interactions and that it is not only the hydrophobic nature of this residue that is relevant in the self‐assembly of hIAPP_22‐29. © Proteins 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.