A de novo designed class of peptide-based fluoropolymers composed of fluorinated aliphatic amino acids as main components is reported. Structural characterization provided insights into fluorine-induced alterations on β-strand to α-helix transition upon an increase in SDS content and revealed the unique formation of PPII structures for trifluorinated fluoropeptides. A combination of circular dichroism, fluorescence-based leaking assays and surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy served to examine the insertion and folding processes into unilamellar vesicles. While partitioning into lipid bilayers, the degree of fluorination conducts a decrease in α-helical content. Furthermore, this study comprises a report on the proteolytic stability of peptides exclusively built up by fluorinated amino acids and proved all sequences to be enzymatically degradable despite the degree of fluorination. Herein presented fluoropeptides as well as the distinctive properties of these artificial and polyfluorinated foldamers with enzyme-degradable features will play a crucial role in the future development of fluorinated peptide-based biomaterials.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/chem.202203860 | DOI Listing |
Alzheimers Dement
December 2024
University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Background: An optimized 6 amino acid peptide (NLSYYT; herein YΦ) derived from the C-terminus of h19S proteasome activator Rpt5 has been shown to activate the 20S proteasome and promote tau degradation. Further analysis of this peptide has identified the highly conserved leucine in position 5 (P5) as a key part of the 20S activation mechanism to drive degradation of tau monomers in the absence of proteasome activator complexes.
Method: Recombinant peptides were used to identify key amino acids required for binding and activating the h20S proteasome.
Gamma-secretases play a pivotal role in the generation of Aβ peptides. Mutations in these enzymes that cause early-onset, autosomal dominant AD shift Aβ production towards generation of longer peptides. We have recently shown that the mutation-induced shifts in the ratio of short-to-long Aβ peptides not only inform about mutation pathogenicity but also allow experimental prediction of the age at dementia onset.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Chem Inf Model
January 2025
Molecular Simulations and Design Group, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Sandtorstrasse 1, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany.
Cezanne-2 (Cez2) is a deubiquitinylating (DUB) enzyme involved in the regulation of ubiquitin-driven cellular signaling and selectively targets Lys11-linked polyubiquitin chains. As a representative member of the ovarian tumor (OTU) subfamily DUBs, it performs cysteine proteolytic isopeptide bond cleavage; however, its exact catalytic mechanism is not yet resolved. In this work, we used different computational approaches to get molecular insights into the Cezanne-2 catalytic mechanism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExp Mol Med
January 2025
Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
In response to extra- and intracellular stimuli that constantly challenge and disturb the proteome, cells rapidly change their proteolytic capacity to maintain proteostasis. Failure of such efforts often becomes a major cause of diseases or is associated with exacerbation. Increase in protein breakdown occurs at multiple steps in the ubiquitin-proteasome system, and the regulation of ubiquitination has been extensively studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neuroendocrinol
January 2025
Centre for Neuroendocrinology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Kisspeptin (KISS1) and its cognate receptor (KISS1R) are implicated in the progression of various cancers. A gallium-68 labelled kisspeptin-10 (KP10), the minimal biologically active structure, has potential as a pan-tumour radiopharmaceutical for the detection of cancers. Furthermore, a lutetium-177 labelled KP10 could find therapeutic application in treating oncological diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!