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A cationic amphiphilic peptide effectively prevents the aggregation of soluble Aβ42 and also disintegrates matured fibrils into soluble precursors. In addition, the peptide also rescues cells from the toxicity of Aβ42.

Due to their equivalent lengths, I´-amino acids can serve as surrogates of I±-dipeptides. However, I´-amino acids with proteinogenic side chains have not been well studied because of synthetic difficulties and because of their insolubility in organic solvents. Recently we reported the spontaneous supramolecular gelation of I´-peptides composed of I²(O)-I´5-amino acids. Here, we report the incorporation of I²(O)-I´5-amino acids as guests into the host I±-helix, I±,I³-hybrid peptide 12-helix and their single-crystal conformations. In addition, we studied the solution conformations of hybrid peptides composed of 1:1 alternating I± and I²(O)-I´5-amino acids. In contrast to the control I±-helix structures, the crystal structure of peptides with I²(O)-I´5-amino acids exhibit I±-helical conformations consisting of both 13- and 10-membered H-bonds. The I±,I´-hybrid peptide adopted mixed 13/11-helix conformation in solution with alternating H-bond directionality. Crystal-structure analysis revealed that the I±,I³4-hybrid peptide accommodated the guest I²(O)-I´5-amino acid without significant deviation to the overall helix folding. The results reported here emphasize that I²(O)-I´5-amino acids with proteinogenic side chains can be accommodated into regular I±-helix or 12-helix as guests without much deviation of the overall helix folding of the peptides.

Molecular chirality is ubiquitous in nature. The natural biopolymers, proteins and DNA, preferred a right-handed helical bias due to the inherent stereochemistry of the monomer building blocks. Here, we are reporting a rare co-existence of left- and right-handed helical conformations and helix-terminating property at the C-terminus within a single molecule of α,γ-hybrid peptide foldamers composed of achiral Aib (α-aminoisobutyric acid) and 3,3-dimethyl-substituted γ-amino acid (Adb; 4-amino-3,3-dimethylbutanoic acid). At the molecular level, the left- and right-handed helical screw sense of α,γ-hybrid peptides are representing a macroscopic tendril perversion. The pronounced helix-terminating behaviour of C-terminal Adb residues was further explored to design helix-Schellman loop mimetics and to study their conformations in solution and single crystals. The stereochemical constraints of dialkyl substitutions on γ-amino acids showed a marked impact on the folding behaviour of α,γ-hybrid peptides.

Unique ε-helical organizations (11-helices) from β,γ-hybrid peptides composed of chiral β3-amino acids along with achiral 3,3- or 4,4-dimethyl substituted γ-amino acids are disclosed.

Due to their equivalent lengths, δ-amino acids can serve as surrogates of α-dipeptides. However, δ-amino acids with proteinogenic side chains have not been well studied because of synthetic difficulties and because of their insolubility in organic solvents. Recently we reported the spontaneous supramolecular gelation of δ-peptides composed of β(O)-δ

We are reporting the influence of foldamer structures on their self-assembled architectures. In a sharp contrast to the ordered α,γ-hybrid 12-helix obtained from 1 : 1 alternating Aib and γ-Phe, the α,γ-hybrid peptides constituted with α-Phe and 4,4-dimethyl γ-amino acid (Aic) displayed the extended sheet type of conformations in solution and spontaneously self-assembled into thermally and proteolytically stable capsules. In contrast, the conformationally ordered 12-helix self-assembled into a three-dimensional supramolecular polyhedron.

Longitudinal relaxation due to cross-correlation between dipolar ((HN-1H alpha)-H-1) and amide-proton chemical shift anisotropy (H-1(N) CSA) has been measured in a model tripeptide Piv-(L)Pro-(L)Pro-(L)Phe-OMe. The peptide bond across diproline segment is known to undergo cis/trans isomerization and only in the cis form does the lone Phe amide-proton become involved in intramolecular hydrogen bonding. The strength of the cross correlated relaxation interference is found to be significantly different between cis and trans forms, and this difference is shown as an influence of intramolecular hydrogen bonding on the amide-proton CSA. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Catch the twist: The cis Piv-Pro conformer (Piv=pivaloyl) of peptides is no longer inaccessible. Any cis X-Pro tertiary-amide-bond conformer can be stabilized in crystals of peptides by accommodating the unavoidable distortion of the dihedral angle of the peptide bond to the carbonyl group of the Pro residue (see picture), in this case through ni−1→πi* interactions. Steric clashes were not observed in the cis Piv-Pro rotamers studied.

Here, novel 12-helices in α,γ-hybrid peptides composed of achiral α-aminoisobutyric acid (Aib) and 4-aminoisocaproic acid (Aic, doubly homologated Aib) monomers in 1:1 alternation are reported. The 12-helices were indicated by solution and crystal structural analyses of tetra- and heptapeptides. Surprisingly, single crystals of the longer nonapeptide displayed two different helix types: the novel 12-helix and an unprecedented 15/17-helix. Quantum chemical calculations on both helix types in a series of continuously lengthened Aib/Aic-hybrid peptides confirm that the 12-helix is more stable than the 15/17-helix in shorter peptides, whereas the 15/17-helix is more stable in longer sequences. Thus, the coexistence of both helix types can be expected within a definite range of sequence lengths. The novel 15/17- and 12-helices in α,γ-hybrid peptides with 5→1 and 4→1 hydrogen-bonding patterns, respectively, can be viewed as backbone-expanded analogues of native α- and 310 -helices.

Novel helical, structures unprecedented in the chemistry of α-polypeptides, may be found in polypeptides containing β and γ amino acids. The structural characterization of C12 and C14 -helices in oligo β-peptides was originally achieved using conformationally constrained cyclic β-residues. This study explores the conformational characteristics of proteinogenic β3 residues in homooligomeric sequences and addresses the issue of inducing a transition between C14 and C12 helices by the introduction of a guest α-residue. Folded C14 -helical structures are demonstrated for the nonapeptide Boc-[β3 (R)Val]9 -OMe by NMR methods in CDCl3 -DMSO mixtures, while the peptide was found to be aggregated in CDCl3 . The insertion of a guest Aib residue into an oligo-β-valine sequence in the octapeptide model Boc-[(β3 (R)Val)3 -Aib-(β3 (R)Val]4 -OMe results in well dispersed NH region in the NMR spectrum indicating folded structures in CDCl3 . Structure calculations for both the peptides using NOE distance constraints support a C14 helical structure in the homooligomer which transform into a C12 helix on introduction of the guest Aib residue.