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An interassembly approach for the synthesis of peptides containing 1-(2-nitrophenyl)ethyl-caged phosphoserine, -threonine, and -tyrosine has been developed. Photochemical uncaging of these peptides releases the 2-nitrophenylethyl protecting group to afford the corresponding phosphopeptide. The peptides described herein are based on phosphorylation sites of kinases involved in cell movement or cell cycle regulation and demonstrate the versatility of the method and compatibility with the synthesis of polypeptides, including a variety of encoded amino acids.

Abstract: Mini-proteins containing fewer than 40 amino acids provide simple model systems for studying protein folding and stability as well as serving as scaffolds for the rational design of new functional motifs. This article reviews current progress on the design and characterization of discretely folded mini-protein motifs.

The biosynthetic thiolase, from Zoogloea ramigera, involved in generation of acetoacetyl-CoA for poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate synthesis, has been prepared pure in quantity for initial structural characterization of this homotetrameric enzyme. Edman degradation provided the sequence of the NH2 terminal 25 residues and an active site cysteine-containing nonapeptide labeled on stoichiometric inactivation by iodoacetamide. Both sequences were used to align the encoding DNA sequence of the cloned gene as described in an accompanying paper. Synthetic analogs of acetoacetyl-S-CoA, modified in the CoA moiety, were prepared and tested, and acetoacetyl-S-pantetheine 11-pivalate 1 was shown to have a kcat/Km of 6.4 X 10(6) M-1 s-1, comparable to the kcat/Km of 2 X 10(7) M-1 s-1 for acetoacetyl-S-CoA. The pantetheine pivalate group facilitates nonaqueous synthetic manipulations and may be generally useful as a CoA replacement. We have also prepared the carba analog of 1, with CH2 replacing S, to yield a beta-diketone analog 10 of acetoacetyl-S-CoA and the corresponding methyl ketone analog 9 of acetyl-S-CoA. These analogs have been used to prove the ability of Z. ramigera thiolase to catalyze proton abstraction from the C-2 methyl group of the acetyl portion of substrate in a transition state separate from C-C bond formation. NMR studies in D2O show exchange only when condensation is possible. Further studies with [2-3H]acetyl-CoA show there is neither pre-equilibrium washout nor detectable kH/kT expressed in turnover and provide no evidence for a discrete acetyl-CoA C-2 carbanion or a nonconcerted reaction.

The effects of cotranslational protein modification on the process of protein folding are poorly understood. Time-resolved fluorescence energy transfer has been used to assess the impact of glycosylation on the conformational dynamics of flexible oligopeptides. The peptide sequences examined are selected from glycoproteins of known three-dimensional structure. The energy transfer modulation associated with N-linked glycosylation is consistent with the glycopeptides sampling different conformational profiles in water. Results show that glycosylation causes the modified peptides to adopt a different ensemble of conformations, and for some peptides this change may lead to conformations that are more compact and better approximate the conformation of these peptides in the final folded protein. This result further implies that cotranslational glycosylation can trigger the timely formation of structural nucleation elements and thus assist in the complex process of protein folding.

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.