4S-Aminoproline polypeptide 2 forms unusual β-structure in trifluoroethanol that switches to the polyproline II (PPII) form in aqueous medium, while 4R-aminoproline peptide 1 retains PPII form in both solvents. This first instance of a polyproline derivative showing a β-structure is attributed to competitive pH-dependent (4-NH(3)(+)/NH(2)) stereoelectronic effect (4R vs 4S) and the overriding importance of stereospecific intra/intermolecular H-bonding in (2,4)-cis-4S-aminoproline in contrast to (2,4)-trans-4R-aminoproline oligomers.

The antiparallel arrangement of two strands of the non-classical β-structure, formed exclusively via cis-4S-(OH) prolyl polypeptide as established by FRET, propagates into self-assembled nanofibers upon conjugation with C12/C14/C16 hydrocarbon chains.

We previously developed reporter-peptide nucleic acid (PNA)-peptides for sequence-specific radioimaging and fluorescence imaging of particular mRNAs in cells and tumors. However, a direct test for PNA-peptide hybridization with RNA in the cytoplasm would be desirable. Thiazole orange (TO) dye at the 5′ end of a hybridization agent shows a strong increase in fluorescence quantum yield when stacked upon a 5′ terminal base pair, in solution and in cells. We hypothesized that hybridization agents with an internal TO could distinguish a single base mutation in RNA. Thus, we designed KRAS2 PNA-IGF1 tetrapeptide agents with an internal TO adjacent to the middle base of the 12th codon, a frequent site of cancer-initiating mutations. Our molecular dynamics calculations predicted a disordered bulge with weaker hybridization resulting from a single RNA mismatch. We observed that single-stranded PNA-IGF1 tetrapeptide agents with an internal TO showed low fluorescence, but fluorescence escalated 5–6-fold upon hybridization with KRAS2 RNA. Circular dichroism melting curves showed ∼10 °C higher Tm for fully complementary vs single base mismatch TO-PNA-peptide agent duplexes with KRAS2 RNA. Fluorescence measurements of treated human lung cancer cells similarly showed elevated cytoplasmic fluorescence intensity with fully complementary vs single base mismatch agents. Sequence-specific elevation of internal TO fluorescence is consistent with our hypothesis of detecting cytoplasmic PNA-peptide:RNA hybridization if a mutant agent encounters the corresponding mutant mRNA.

Collagens are an important family of structural proteins found in the extracellular matrix with triple helix as the characteristic structural motif. The collagen triplex is made of three left-handed polyproline II (PPII) helices with each PPII strand consisting of repetitive units of the tripeptide motif X-Y-Gly, where the amino acids X and Y are most commonly proline (Pro) and 4R-hydroxyproline (Hyp), respectively. A C4-endo pucker at X-site and C4-exo pucker at Y-site have been proposed to be the key for formation of triplex, and the nature of pucker is dependent on both the electronegativity and stereochemistry of the substituent. The present manuscript describes a new class of collagen analogues-chimeric cationic collagens-wherein both X- and Y-sites in collagen triad are simultaneously substituted by a combination of 4(R/S)-(OH/NH2/NH3(+)/NHCHO)-prolyl units and triplex stabilities measured at different pHs and in EG:H2O. Based on the results a model has been proposed with the premise that any factors which specifically favor the ring puckers of C4-endo at X-site and C4-exo at Y-site stabilize the PPII conformation and hence the derived triplexes. The pH-dependent triplex stability uniquely observed with ionizable 4-amino substituent on proline enables one to define the critical combination of factors C4-(exo/endo), intraresidue H-bonding, stereoelectronic (R/S) and n → π* interactions in dictating the triplex strength. The ionizable NH2 substituent at C4 in R/S configuration is thus a versatile probe for delineating the triplex stabilizing factors and the results have potential for designing of collagen analogues with customized properties for material and biological applications.

Liquid-phase oxidation of p-cresol over insoluble cobalt oxide (Co 3 O 4 ) catalyst under elevated pressure of air gave 95% selectivity to p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, an important flavoring intermediate. The selectivity to p-hydroxybenzaldehyde could be enhanced by manipulating the concentrations of p-cresol, sodium hydroxide, and catalyst and the partial pressure of oxygen in such a way that the byproducts normally encountered in this oxidation process were eliminated or minimized significantly.

The constructs and study of combinatorial libraries of structurally defined homologous extracellular matrix (ECM) glycopeptides can significantly accelerate the identification of cell surface markers involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. Herein, we present a simple and reliable host-guest approach to design a high-throughput glyco-collagen library to modulate the primary and secondary cell line migration process. 4-Amidoadamantyl-substituted collagen peptides and β-cyclodextrin appended with mono- or disaccharides were used to construct self-assembled glyco-collagen conjugates (GCCs), which were found to be thermally stable, with triple-helix structures and nanoneedles-like morphologies that altered cell migration processes. We also investigated the glycopeptide's mechanisms of action, which included interactions with integrins and cell signaling kinases. Finally, we report murine wound models to demonstrate the real-time application of GCCs. As a result of our observations, we claim that the host-guest model of ECM glycopeptides offers an effective tool to expedite identification of specific glycopeptides to manipulate cell morphogenesis, cell differentiation metastatic processes, and their biomedical applications.

It is shown that C4(S)-NH /OH/NHCHO-prolyl polypeptides exhibit PPII conformation in aqueous medium, but in a relatively hydrophobic solvent trifluoroethanol (TFE) transform into an unusual β-structure. The stereospecific directing effect of H-bonding in defining the specific structure is demonstrated by the absence of β-structure in the corresponding C4(S)-guanidinyl/(NH/O)-acetyl derivatives and retention of β-structure in C4(S)-(NHCHO)-prolyl polypeptides in TFE. The distinct conformations are identified by the characteristic CD patterns and supported by Raman spectroscopic data. The solvent dependent conformational effects are interpreted in terms of intraresidue H-bonding that promotes PPII conformation in water, switching over to interchain H-bonding in TFE. The present observations add a new design principle to the growing repertoire of strategies for engineering peptide secondary structural motifs for innovative nanoassemblies and new biomaterials.

Collagen is a major structural protein found in the connective tissues of higher organisms and mammals and its biomechanical properties are related to the high thermal stability of its triple helical structure. The primary structure of collagen is composed of the repeating tripeptide motif of Pro-Hyp-Gly, where Hyp is 4 R -hydroxy proline. Cationic collagen mimetics consisting of [Pro(X)-Pro(Y)-Gly](6) where Pro(X) and Pro(Y) are 4(R/S)-amino/guanidine proline have been synthesized and shown to form triplexes more stable than the unmodified collagen peptide [Pro-Hyp-Gly](6). The origin of hyperstability is due to conformational pre-organization of proline pucker arising from the electronegativity of the cationic group. These cationic collagen peptides are shown to be effective cell penetrating and plasmid DNA transfecting agents. The results have potential for design of new collagen mimetics for biomaterial applications and efficient cell penetrating agents for drug delivery applications.