Structure, membrane topology and influence of cholesterol of the membrane proximal region: transmembrane helical anchor sequence of gp41 from HIV.

During the first steps of HIV infection the Env subunit gp41 is thought to establish contact between the membranes and to be the main driver of fusion. Here we investigated in liquid crystalline membranes the structure and cholesterol recognition of constructs made of a gp41 external region carrying a cholesterol recognition amino acid consensus (CRAC) motif and a hydrophobic membrane anchoring sequence. CD- und ATR-FTIR spectroscopies indicate that the constructs adopt a high degree of helical secondary structure in membrane environments.

On the design of supramolecular assemblies made of peptides and lipid bilayers.

Peptides confer interesting properties to materials, supramolecular assemblies and to lipid membranes and are used in analytical devices or within delivery vehicles. Their relative ease of production combined with a high degree of versatility make them attractive candidates to design new such products. Here, we review and demonstrate how CD- and solid-state NMR spectroscopic approaches can be used to follow the reconstitution of peptides into membranes and to describe some of their fundamental characteristics.