Self-assembly of the octapeptide lanreotide and lanreotide-based derivatives: the role of the aromatic residues

J Pept Sci. 2008 Jan;14(1):66-75. doi: 10.1002/psc.913.

Abstract

We investigated the spectroscopic properties of the aromatic residues in a set of octapeptides with various self-assembly properties. These octapeptides are based on lanreotide, a cyclic peptide analogue of somatostatin-14 that spontaneously self-assembles into very long and monodisperse hollow nanotubes. A previous study on these lanreotide-based derivatives has shown that the disulfide bridge, the peptide hairpin conformation and the aromatic residues are involved in the self-assembly process and that modification of these properties either decreases the self-assembly propensity or modifies the molecular packing resulting in different self-assembled architectures. In this study we probed the local environment of the aromatic residues, naphthyl-alanine, tryptophan and tyrosine, by Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy, comparing nonassembled peptides at low concentrations with the self-assembled ones at high concentrations. As expected, the spectroscopic characteristics of the aromatic residues were found to be sensitive to the peptide-peptide interactions. Among the most remarkable features we could record a very unusual Raman spectrum for the tyrosine of lanreotide in relation to its propensity to form H-bonds within the assemblies. In Lanreotide nanotubes, and also in the supramolecular architectures formed by its derivatives, the tryptophan side chain is water-exposed. Finally, the low fluorescence polarization of the peptide aggregates suggests that fluorescence energy transfer occurs within the nanotubes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amyloid / chemistry
  • Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer
  • Humans
  • Models, Chemical
  • Nanotubes / chemistry
  • Peptides / chemistry*
  • Peptides, Cyclic / chemical synthesis*
  • Peptides, Cyclic / chemistry*
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Structure, Secondary
  • Somatostatin / analogs & derivatives*
  • Somatostatin / chemical synthesis
  • Somatostatin / chemistry
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence / methods
  • Spectrophotometry / methods
  • Spectrum Analysis, Raman / instrumentation
  • Spectrum Analysis, Raman / methods
  • Tryptophan / chemistry
  • Tyrosine / chemistry

Substances

  • Amyloid
  • Peptides
  • Peptides, Cyclic
  • lanreotide
  • Tyrosine
  • Somatostatin
  • Tryptophan