The interaction with phospholipid bilayers of two synthetic peptides with sequences corresponding to a segment next to the native N-terminus and an internal region of the E2 structural hepatitis G virus (HGV/GBV-C) protein [E2(7-26) and E2(279-298), respectively] has been characterized. Both peptides are water soluble but associate spontaneously with bilayers, showing higher affinity for anionic than zwitterionic membranes. However, whereas the E2(7-26) peptide is hardly transferred at all from water to the membrane interface, the E2(279-298) peptide is able to penetrate into negatively charged bilayers remaining close to the lipid/water interface. The nonpolar environment clearly induces a structural transition in the E2(279-298) peptide from random coil to alpha-helix, which causes bilayer perturbations leading to vesicle permeabilization. The results indicate that this internal segment peptide sequence is involved in the fusion of HGV/GBV-C to membrane.
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NPJ Vaccines
January 2025
School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Cyclic peptides are often used as scaffolds for the multivalent presentation of drug molecules due to their structural stability and constrained conformation. We identified a cyclic deca-peptide incorporating lipoamino acids for delivering T helper and B cell epitopes against group A Streptococcus (GAS), eliciting robust humoral immune responses. In this study, we assessed the function-immunogenicity relationship of the multi-component vaccine candidate (referred to as VC-13) to elucidate a mechanism of action.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC), Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3T 1J4, Canada.
Intense research on founding members of the RAS superfamily has defined our understanding of these critical signalling proteins, leading to the premise that small GTPases function as molecular switches dependent on differential nucleotide loading. The closest homologs of H/K/NRAS are the three-member RRAS family, and interest in the MRAS GTPase as a regulator of MAPK activity has recently intensified. We show here that MRAS does not function as a classical switch and is unable to exchange GDP-to-GTP in solution or when tethered to a lipid bilayer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Org Chem
January 2025
Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.
A scalable, seven step synthesis is reported for a trifluoromethyl toluene protected sulfonated phenylalanine building block whose utility was demonstrated in the synthesis of four CXCR4-derived sulfonopeptides. When compared to a conventional trichloroethyl protected building block, overall yield was improved by up to 4-fold. We believe this building block will prove to be of significant value for the synthesis of a variety of peptide targets containing phenylalanine sulfonate, a bioisostere of tyrosine sulfate, enabling orthogonal protection strategies and improving synthetic efficiency and yield.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Agric Food Chem
January 2025
Institute of Food Science and Engineering, School of Health Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China.
Since the natural supply of iron is low, microorganisms acquire iron by secreting siderophores. is known for its abundant secondary metabolites containing various types of siderophores, including hydroxamate, catecholate, and carboxylate. These siderophores are mainly synthesized through the nonribosomal peptide synthase (NRPS) and non-NRPS pathways and are regulated by ferric uptake regulator and diphtheria toxin regulators.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Infect Dis
January 2025
Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais 36036-900, Brazil.
Schistosomiasis is the infection caused by and constitutes a worldwide public health problem. The parasitological recommended method and serological methods can be used for the detection of eggs and antibodies, respectively. However, both have limitations, especially in low endemicity areas.
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