The one and only fold? Three chemically synthesized μ‐conotoxin PIIIA isomers (see picture), which contain different disulfide connectivity, block the skeletal muscle voltage‐gated sodium channel NaV1.4 with similar, yet distinguishable potency. Hence, bioactivity of this μ‐conotoxin is not strictly coupled to its native fold. Future development of conotoxin‐derived analgesics may benefit from such a widened structural repertoire.

During the last decade, ionic liquids (ILs) have revealed promising properties and applications in many research fields, including biotechnology and biological sciences. The focus of this contribution is to give a critical review of the phenomena observed and current knowledge of the interactions occurring on a molecular basis. As opposed to the huge advances made in understanding the properties of proteins in ILs, complementary investigations dealing with interactions between ILs and peptides or oligopeptides are underrepresented and are mostly only of phenomenological nature. However, the field has received more attention in the last few years. This Review features a meta-analysis of the available data and findings and should, therefore, provide a basis for a scientifically profound understanding of the nature and mechanisms of interactions between ILs and structured or nonstructured peptides. Fundamental aspects of the interactions between different peptides/oligopeptides and ILs are complemented by sections on the experimental (spectroscopy, structural biology) and theoretical (computational chemistry) possibilities to explain the phenomena reported so far in the literature. In effect, this should lead to the development of novel applications and support the understanding of IL-solute interactions in general.

Peptides and proteins carrying high numbers of cysteines can adopt various 3D structures depending on their disulfide connectivities. The unambiguous verification of such conformational isomers with more than two disulfide bonds is extremely challenging, and experimental strategies for their unequivocal structural analysis are largely lacking. We synthesized all 15 possible isomers of the 22mer conopeptide μ-PIIIA and applied 2D NMR spectroscopy and MS/MS for the elucidation of its structure. This study provides intriguing insights in how the disulfide connectivity alters the global fold of a toxin. We also show that analysis procedures involving comprehensive combinations of conventional methods are required for the unambiguous assignment of disulfides in cysteine-rich peptides and proteins and that standard compounds are crucially needed for the structural analysis of such complex molecules.

Solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) provides the possibility to chemically synthesize peptides and proteins. Applying the method on hydrophilic structures is usually without major drawbacks but faces extreme complications when it comes to "difficult sequences." These includes the vitally important, ubiquitously present and structurally demanding membrane proteins and their functional parts, such as ion channels, G-protein receptors, and other pore-forming structures. Standard synthetic and ligation protocols are not enough for a successful synthesis of these challenging sequences. In this review we highlight, summarize and evaluate the possibilities for synthetic production of "difficult sequences" by SPPS, native chemical ligation (NCL) and follow-up protocols.

NCL results in the quantitative yield of a membrane protein, where a thioester peptide is formed from an oxo-ester with an in situ cleavable solubilizing tag.

The oxidation of the conotoxin μ-SIIIA in different ionic liquids was investigated, and the results were compared with those obtained in [C2 mim][OAc]. Conversion of the reduced precursor into the oxidized product was observed in the protic ILs methyl- and ethylammonium formate (MAF and EAf, respectively), whereas choline dihydrogenphosphate and Ammoeng 110 failed to yield folded peptide. However, the quality and yield of the peptide obtained in MAF and EAF were lower than in the case of the product from [C2 mim][OAc]. Reaction conditions (temperature, water content) also had an impact on peptide conversion. A closer look at the activities of μ-SIIIA versions derived from an up-scaled synthesis in [C2 mim][OAc] revealed a significant loss of the effect on ion channel NaV 1.4 relative to the buffer-oxidized peptide, whereas digestion of either μ-SIIIA product by trypsin was unaffected. This was attributed to adherence of ions from the IL to the peptide, because the disulfide connectivity is basically the same for the differentially oxidized μ-SIIIA versions.

This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the recent advances made in the field of ionic liquids in peptide chemistry and peptide analytics.

The neat ionic liquid (IL) [Cmim][OAc] is not just capable of dissolving thiol- and disulfide-containing compounds, but is able to chemically react with them without addition of any catalytic reagent. Through the analysis of four small organic molecules and a cysteine-containing peptide we could postulate a general reaction mechanism. Here, the imidazolium-carbenes preferentially react with the disulfide bond, but not thiol group. Moreover, the imidazole moiety was found to abstract the sulfur atom from the cysteine residue, providing an alternative way to transform Cys residues, which were artificially inserted into a peptide sequence in order to perform native chemical ligation (NCL) of two peptide fragments. Finally, the chemical reaction of [Cmim][OAc] with a cysteine-containing biomolecules can be tuned or even suppressed through the addition of at least 30% of water to the reaction mixture.