De novo design of a stable N-terminal helical foldamer.

A peptide NTH-18 was synthesized in which a N-terminal helix is stabilised by two crossed disulfide bonds to a C-terminal extension. The design was inspired by the structure of the neurotoxic peptide apamin, which has previously been used to stabilise helices in miniature enzymes. CD- and NMR-spectroscopy indicated that NTH-18 adopted a fold similar to that found in apamin.