1H NMR studies on the solution conformation of the [L-Ser10] and [D-Ser10] analogues of contulakin-G

Abstract

The synthesis of the O-glycosylated serine-10 analogue of contulakin-G yielded both the [L-] and the [D-Ser10] analogues. The 1H NMR study indicated that the sugars of the two Ser10-glycosylated peptides lacked the hydrogen bond to the peptide backbone that exists in contulakin-G. NOEs showed that the glycan part of the [D-Ser10] analogue had a different orientation to the peptide backbone than that of the [L-Ser10] analogue. The peptide backbones in the two compounds were found to exist mainly in random coil conformations, with transient turns at the site of glycosylation. A transient turn was also found at the C-terminus of the [D-Ser10] glycopeptide. The NMR data indicated that the average conformation of the [D-Ser10] analogue resembles the conformation of contulakin-G more than the [L-Ser] does. Since biological data showed that the [D-Ser10] glycopeptide was as active as contulakin-G, while the [L-Ser10] glycopeptide was only slightly active at more than 100 times the dose, it is possible that it is the orientation of the glycan relative to the peptide chain that is actually recognized by the proteolytic enzyme.Key words: conformation, contulakin-G analogues, NMR, O-linked glycopeptide.