No abstract

We have developed a fluorescence quenching method using peptides containing 3,5-dibromotryrosine to measure oligomerization of model transmembrane alpha-helices in lipid bilayers. Peptides of the type Ac-LysLysGlyLeu(m)XLeu(n)LysLysAla-amide where X is tryptophan or 3,5-dibromotyrosine were found to form heterodimers in bilayers of phosphatidylcholine in the liquid-crystalline phase. The free energy of dimer formation changed little with increasing number of Leu residues from 16 to 22 but increased with increasing phospholipid fatty acyl chain length, with a slope of about 0.5 kJ mol(-1) per fatty acyl chain carbon. Peptides were excluded from lipid in the gel phase, resulting in increased levels of oligomerization. Addition of cholesterol to form the liquid-ordered state led to increased dimerization but without phase separation. The presence of phosphatidylethanolamine had little effect on dimerization.

We have studied the effects of aromatic residues at the ends of peptides of the type Ac-KKGL(n)()WL(m)()KKA-amide on their interactions with lipid bilayers as a function of lipid fatty acyl chain length, physical phase, and charge. Peptide Ac-KKGFL(6)WL(8)FKKA-amide (F(2)L(14)) incorporated into bilayers of phosphatidylcholines containing monounsaturated fatty acyl chains of lengths C14-C24 at a peptide:lipid molar ratio of 1:100 in contrast to Ac-KKGL(7)WL(9)KKA-amide (L(16)) which did not incorporate at all into dierucoylphosphatidylcholine [di(C24:1)PC]; Ac-KKGYL(6)WL(8)YKKA-amide (Y(2)L(14)) incorporated partly into di(C24:1)PC. Lipid-binding constants relative to that for dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (C18:1)PC were obtained using a fluorescence quenching method. For Y(2)L(14) and F(2)L(14), relative lipid-binding constants increased with increasing fatty acyl chain length from C14 to C24; strongest binding did not occur at the point where the hydrophobic length of the peptide equalled the hydrophobic thickness of the bilayer. For Ac-KKGYL(9)WL(11)YKKA-amide (Y(2)L(20)), increasing chain length from C18 to C24 had little effect on relative binding constants. Anionic phospholipids bound more strongly than zwitterionic phospholipids to Y(2)L(14) and Y(2)L(20) but effects of charge were relatively small. In two phase (gel and liquid crystalline) mixtures, all the peptides partitioned more strongly into liquid crystalline than gel phase; effects were independent of the structure of the peptide or of the lipid (dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine or bovine brain sphingomyelin). Addition of cholesterol had little effect on incorporation of the peptides into lipid bilayers. It is concluded that the presence of aromatic residues at the ends of transmembrane alpha-helices effectively buffers them against changes in bilayer thickness caused either by an increase in the chain length of the phospholipid or by the presence of cholesterol.

Current proposals for the catalytic mechanism of aspartic proteinases are largely based on X-ray structures of bound oligopeptide inhibitors possessing non-hydrolysable analogues of the scissile peptide bond. Until recent years, the positions of protons on the catalytic aspartates and the ligand in these complexes had not been determined with certainty due to the inadequate resolution of these analyses. There has been much interest in locating the catalytic protons at the active site of aspartic proteinases since this has major implications for detailed understanding of the mechanism of action and the design of improved transition state mimics for therapeutic applications. In this review we discuss the results of studies which have shed light on the locations of protons at the catalytic centre. The first direct determination of the proton positions stemmed from neutron diffraction data collected from crystals of the fungal aspartic proteinase endothiapepsin bound to a transition state analogue (H261). The neutron structure of the complex at a resolution of 2.1 A provided evidence that Asp 215 is protonated and that Asp 32 is the negatively charged residue in the transition state complex. Atomic resolution X-ray studies of inhibitor complexes have corroborated this finding. A similar study of the native enzyme established that it, unexpectedly, has a dipeptide bound at the catalytic site which is consistent with classical reports of inhibition by short peptides and the ability of pepsins to catalyse transpeptidation reactions. Studies by NMR have confirmed the findings of low-barrier and single-well hydrogen bonds in the complexes with transition state analogues.

The sarcoplasmic reticulum of skeletal muscle contains anionic phospholipids as well as the zwitterionic phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine. Here we study the effects of anionic phospholipids on the activity of the Ca2+-ATPase purified from the membrane. Reconstitution of the Ca2+-ATPase into dioleoylphosphatidylserine [di(C18:1)PS] or dioleoylphosphatidic acid [di(C18:1)PA] leads to a decrease in ATPase activity. Measurements of the quenching of the tryptophan fluorescence of the ATPase by brominated phospholipids give a relative binding constant for the anionic lipids compared with dioleoylphosphatidylcholine close to 1 and suggest that phosphatidic acid only binds to the ATPase at the bulk lipid sites around the ATPase. Addition of di(C18:1)PS or di(C18:1)PA to the ATPase in the short-chain dimyristoleoylphosphatidylcholine [di(C14:1)PC] reverse the effects of the short-chain lipid on ATPase activity and on Ca2+ binding, as revealed by the response of tryptophan fluorescence intensity to Ca2+ binding. It is concluded that the lipid headgroup and lipid fatty acyl chains have separate effects on the function of the ATPase. The anionic phospholipids have no significant effect on Ca2+ binding to the ATPase; the level of Ca2+ binding to the ATPase, the affinity of binding and the rate of dissociation of Ca2+ are unchanged by reconstitution into di(C18:1)PA. The major effect of the anionic lipids is a reduction in the maximal level of binding of MgATP. This is attributed to the formation of oligomers of the Ca2+-ATPase, in which only one molecule of the ATPase can bind MgATP dimers in di(C18:1)PS and trimers or tetramers in di(C18:1)PA. The rates of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation for the proportion of the ATPase still able to bind ATP are unaffected by reconstitution. Larger changes were observed in the level of phosphorylation of the ATPase by Pi, which became very low in the anionic phospholipids. The fluorescence response to Mg2+ for the ATPase labelled with 4-(bromomethyl)-6,7-dimethoxycoumarin was also changed in di(C18:1)PS and di(C18:1)PA, so that effects of Mg2+ became comparable with those seen on phosphorylation for the unreconstituted ATPase. The anionic phospholipids could induce a conformational change in the ATPase on binding Mg2+ equivalent to that normally induced by phosphorylation or by binding inhibitors such as thapsigargin.