Cupryphans,metal‐binding,redox‐active,redesigned conopeptides

Contryphans are bioactive peptides, isolated from the venom of marine snails of the genus Conus, which are characterized by the short length of the polypeptide chain and the high degree of unusual post‐translational modifications. The cyclization of the polypeptide chain through a single disulphide bond, the presence of two conserved Pro residues, and the epimerization of a Trp/Leu residue confer to Contryphans a stable and well‐defined structure in solution, conserved in all members of the family, and tolerant to multiple substitutions. The potential of Contryphans as scaffolds for the design of redox‐active (macro)molecules was tested by engineering a copper‐binding site on two different variants of the natural peptide Contryphan‐Vn. The binding site was designed by computational modeling, and the redesigned peptides were synthesized and characterized by optical, fluorescence, electron spin resonance, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The novel peptides, named Cupryphan and Arg–Cupryphan, bind Cu²⁺ ions with a 1:1 stoichiometry and a K_d in the 100 nM range. Other divalent metals (e.g., Zn²⁺ and Mg²⁺) are bound with much lower affinity. In addition, Cupryphans catalyze the dismutation of superoxide anions with an activity comparable to other nonpeptidic superoxide dismutase mimics. We conclude that the Contryphan motif represents a natural robust scaffold which can be engineered to perform different functions, providing additional means for the design of catalytically active mini metalloproteins.     

海南产桶形芋螺蛋白质二硫键异构酶的鉴定

蛋白质二硫键异构酶(PDI)是内质网新生肽链折叠中一个重要的折叠酶.在热 带药用海洋生物芋螺的毒液中富含PDI酶,该酶对于毒液中芋螺毒素神经肽的体内 氧化折叠至关重要.本研究主要采用凝胶过滤层析和制备型Rotofor液相等电聚焦 电泳等多种方法,从海南产桶形芋螺（Conus betulinus Linnaeus）毒管中分离 纯化天然的PDI酶蛋白,经电泳和MALDI-TOF MS质谱鉴定分析确证获得了高纯度 的桶形芋螺PDI酶,建立了天然芋螺PDI酶分离纯化的技术方法. 以芋螺毒素线性 肽K412为底物进行了PDI酶活性鉴定.结果表明,该分离纯化的PDI酶能够促进K412 的氧化折叠.由于芋螺毒素的氧化折叠非常复杂,且氧化折叠后具有正确二硫键连 接方式的芋螺毒素才具有各种药理活性,因此,本研究结果为后续PDI酶在种类繁 多的芋螺毒素氧化折叠中的应用及其作用机制研究提供了重要的物质基础.     

High-throughput synthesis of conopeptides: a safety-catch linker approach enabling disulfide formation in 96-well format.

Conotoxins exhibit a high degree of selectivity and potency for a range of pharmacologically relevant targets. The rapid access to libraries of conotoxin analogues, containing multiple intramolecular disulfide bridges for use in drug development, can be a very labor intensive, multi-step task. This work describes a high-throughput method for the synthesis of cystine-bridged conopeptides.Peptides were assembled on a peptide synthesizer employing the Fmoc solid-phase strategy using a safety-catch amide linker (SCAL). Side-chain protecting groups were removed on solid phase before SCAL activation with ammonium iodide in TFA, finally releasing the peptide into the TFA solution. Disulfide bond formation was performed in the cleavage mixture employing DMSO.This improved method allows mixtures of oxidized peptides to be obtained in parallel directly from a peptide synthesizer. A single HPLC purification of the resulting crude oxidized material produced peptides of > 95% purity.