Side Chain-backbone Interactions Research Articles

An accurate DFT study within conformational survey of the d-form serine−alanine protected dipeptide

The conformational analysis of n-formyl-d-serine-d-alanine-NH2 dipeptide was studied using density functional theory methods at B3LYP, B3LYP‒D3, and M06‒2X levels using 6‒311 + G (d,p) basis set in the gas and water phases. 87 conformers of 243 stable ones were located and the rest of them were migrated to the more stable geometries. Migration pattern suggests the more stable dipeptide model bears serine in βL, γD, γL and the alanine in γL and γD configurations. The investigation of side‒chain‒backbone interactions revealed that the most stable conformer, γD–γL, is in the β‒turn region of Ramachandran map; therefore, serine-alanine dipeptide model should be adopted with a β‒turn conformation. Intramolecular hydrogen bonding in β‒turns consideration by QTAIM disclosed γD–γL includes three hydrogen bonds. The computed UV‒Vis spectrum alongside of NBO calculation showed the five main electronic transition bands derived of n → n* of intra‒ligand alanine moiety of dipeptide structure.

Tuning hydrogen bond and flexibility of N-spirocyclic cationic spacer for high performance anion exchange membranes

Although N-spirocyclic cation exhibits superior alkaline stability, its rigidity leads to low conductivity and mechanical stability in anion exchange membranes (AEMs). Herein, N-spirocyclic cationic side chain with novel -NH-(CH2)x-NH- spacer is proposed to promote hydrogen bond networks and flexible aggregation of ionic clusters in AEMs. Chloromethyl N-spirocyclic cation is synthesized and bonded with diamines of different lengths to achieve benzyl free N-spirocyclic side chain, as well as to tune the length of the side chains. Molecular dynamic simulation suggests that amino groups induce hydrogen bond networks with water to broaden hydrophilic pathways for hydroxide ions conduction. Trade-off between diffusion coefficient and solubility parameter of the side chain is proposed to demonstrate the side chain-backbone interaction and thus the effects of spacer length on the aggregation of ionic clusters. It coincides well with the experimental results that PSF-C6-ASD with -NH-(CH2)6-NH- spacer exhibits the largest ion clusters (about 8.5 nm) and the highest OH− conductivity (107.1 mS cm−1 at 80 °C), as well as excellent elongation at break (38.3%) and alkaline stability (tolerance to 8 M hot KOH). The properties are better than that of the previously reported N-spirocyclic based AEMs.

Structural preferences of cysteine sulfinic acid: The sulfinate engages in multiple local interactions with the peptide backbone

Cysteine sulfinic acid (Cys-SO2–) is a non-enzymatic oxidative post-translational modification (PTM) that has been identified in hundreds of proteins. However, the effects of cysteine sulfination are in most cases poorly understood. Cys-SO2– is structurally distinctive, with long sulfur-carbon and sulfur-oxygen bonds, and with tetrahedral geometry around sulfur due to its lone pair. Cys-SO2– thus has a unique range of potential interactions with the protein backbone which could facilitate protein structural changes. Herein, the structural effects of cysteine oxidation to the sulfinic acid were investigated in model peptides and folded proteins using NMR spectroscopy, circular dichroism, bioinformatics, and computational studies. In the PDB, Cys-SO2– shows a greater preference for α-helix than Cys. In addition, Cys-SO2– is more commonly found in structures with φ > 0, including in multiple types of β-turn. Sulfinate oxygens engage in hydrogen bonds with adjacent (i or i + 1) amide hydrogens. Over half of sulfinates have at least one hydrogen bond with an adjacent amide, and several structures have hydrogen bonds with both adjacent amides. Alternately, sulfur or either oxygen can act as an electron donor for n→π* interactions with the backbone carbonyl of the same residue, as indicated by frequent S⋯CO or O⋯CO distances below the sums of their van der Waals radii in protein structures. In peptides, Cys-SO2– favored α-helical structure at the N-terminus, consistent with helix dipole effects and backbone hydrogen bonds with the sulfinate promoting α-helix. Cys-SO2– has only modestly greater polyproline II helix propensity than Cys-SH, likely due to competition from multiple side chain-backbone interactions. Cys-SO2– stabilizes the i+1 position of a β-turn relative to Cys-SH. Within proteins, the range of side chain-main chain interactions available to Cys-SO2– compared to Cys-SH provides a basis for potential changes in protein structure and function due to cysteine oxidation to the sulfinic acid.

Optimization of conjugated polymer blend concentration for high performance organic solar cells

Recently, conjugated polymer poly[(5,6-difluoro-2,1,3-benzothiadiazol-4,7-diyl)-alt-(3,3′′′-di(2-octyldodecyl)-2,2′;5′,2″;5″,2′′′-quaterthiophen-5,5′′′-diy)] (PffBT4T-2OD), gained immense attention among the researchers for the photovoltaic device—owing to high temperature processability, high crystallinity and superior charge transport characteristics. In addition, PffBT4T-2OD displays a unique aggregation property which plays a crucial role in determining the quality of the photoactive blend film and concomitantly influencing the organic photovoltaic (OPV) device performance substantially. Here we demonstrate the detailed investigation into the mechanisms governing the aggregation properties of PffBT4T-2OD:PC71BM blend and its role in determining the interfacial properties—material and electronic; together influencing the device performance as a whole. Spectroscopic analysis (XRD and FTIR) indicate that increasing the blend composition influences the aggregation properties in the film, as a function of increased side chain and polymer backbone interactions. Contact angle measurements showed that this, in turn, greatly influences the wettability of the photoactive layer with the adjacent electron transporting layer (ETL) surface. Impedance spectroscopy measurements revealed that the modified surface properties significantly result in the variation of charge transport characteristics across the ETL/polymer interface. The OPV devices employing the optimized blend concentration 33 mg/ml with favourable aggregation properties exhibits high power conversion efficiency of about 9.6% which is 45% higher than the reference device. A detailed relationship between the aggregation characteristics and the related variation in the interfacial properties is correlated with the device performance.

Unexpected Importance of Aromatic-Aliphatic and Aliphatic Side Chain-Backbone Interactions in the Stability of Amyloids.

The role of aromatic and nonaromatic amino acids in amyloid formation has been elucidated by calculating interaction energies between β-sheets in amyloid model systems using density functional theory (B3LYP-D3/6-31G*). The model systems were based on experimental crystal structures of two types of amyloids: (1) with aromatic amino acids, and (2) without aromatic amino acids. Data show that these two types of amyloids have similar interaction energies, supporting experimental findings that aromatic amino acids are not essential for amyloid formation. However, different factors contribute to the stability of these two types of amyloids. In the former, the presence of aromatic amino acids significantly contributes to the strength of interactions between side chains; interactions between aromatic and aliphatic side chains are the strongest, followed by aromatic-aromatic interactions, while aliphatic-aliphatic interactions are the weakest. In the latter, that is, the amyloids without aromatic residues, stability is provided by interactions of aliphatic side chains with the backbone and, in some cases, by hydrogen bonds.

Gly→Ala Point Mutation and Conformation of Poly-Ala Stretch of PABPN1: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Single nucleotide replacing mutations in genes cause a number of diseases, but sometimes these mutations mimic other genetic mutations such as trinucleotide repeats expansions. A mutation in codon GGG→GCG results in Gly→Ala at the N-terminal of PABPN1 protein that mimics the trinucleotide repeat expansion disease called Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD). Molecular dynamics simulations in water with peptide models having sequence Ac-A10-GA2GG-NHme (peptide A) and Ac-A10A3GG-NHme (peptide B) reveal an increase in the length of helical segment in peptide B. The α-helical length is found to be stable in peptide B with starting geometry of a right handed helix, while in the case peptide A, the helical length is short. The interactions of water molecules at terminals, side chain-backbone interactions and hydrogen bonds provide stability to resultant conformation. The adopted helix by the poly-Ala stretch may lead to masking some other active parts of the PABPN1 that may trigger the aggregation, decrease in degradation and/or impaired function of protein. Hence, further studies with N-terminal may be helpful to understand unclear disease mechanism.

Coulomb repulsion in short polypeptides.

Coulomb repulsion between like-charged side chains is presently viewed as a major force that impacts the biological activity of intrinsically disordered polypeptides (IDPs) by determining their spatial dimensions. We investigated short synthetic models of IDPs, purely composed of ionizable amino acid residues and therefore expected to display an extreme structural and dynamic response to pH variation. Two synergistic, custom-made, time-resolved fluorescence methods were applied in tandem to study the structure and dynamics of the acidic and basic hexapeptides Asp6, Glu6, Arg6, Lys6, and His6 between pH 1 and 12. (i) End-to-end distances were obtained from the short-distance Förster resonance energy transfer (sdFRET) from N-terminal 5-fluoro-l-tryptophan (FTrp) to C-terminal Dbo. (ii) End-to-end collision rates were obtained for the same peptides from the collision-induced fluorescence quenching (CIFQ) of Dbo by FTrp. Unexpectedly, the very high increase of charge density at elevated pH had no dynamical or conformational consequence in the anionic chains, neither in the absence nor in the presence of salt, in conflict with the common view and in partial conflict with accompanying molecular dynamics simulations. In contrast, the cationic peptides responded to ionization but with surprising patterns that mirrored the rich individual characteristics of each side chain type. The contrasting results had to be interpreted, by considering salt screening experiments, N-terminal acetylation, and simulations, in terms of an interplay of local dielectric constant and peptide-length dependent side chain charge-charge repulsion, side chain functional group solvation, N-terminal and side chain charge-charge repulsion, and side chain-side chain as well as side chain-backbone interactions. The common picture that emerged is that Coulomb repulsion between water-solvated side chains is efficiently quenched in short peptides as long as side chains are not in direct contact with each other or the main chain.

Design of β-Amino Acid with Backbone–Side Chain Interactions: Stabilization of 14/15-Helix in α/β-Peptides

A new C-linked carbo-β-amino acid, (R)-β-Caa((r)), having a carbohydrate side chain with D-ribo configuration, was prepared from D-glucose by inverting the C-3 stereocenter to introduce constraints/interactions. From the NMR studies it was inferred that the new monomer may participate in additional electrostatic interactions, facilitating and enhancing novel folds in oligomeric peptides derived from it. The α/β-peptides, synthesized from alternating L-Ala and (R)-β-Caa((r)), have shown the presence of 14/15-helix by NMR (in CDCl(3), methanol-d(3) and CD(3)CN), CD and MD calculations. The hybrid peptides showed the presence of electrostatic interactions involving the intraresidue amide proton and the C3-OMe, which helped in the stabilization of the NH(i)···CO(i-4) H-bonds and adoption of 14/15-helix. The importance of such additional interactions has been well defined in recent times to stabilize the folding in a variety of peptidic foldamers. These observations suggest and emphasize that the side chain-backbone interactions are crucial in the stabilization of the desired folding propensity. The designed monomer thus enlarges the opportunities for the synthesis of peptides with novel conformations and expands the repertoire of the foldamers.

PACE Force Field for Protein Simulations. 1. Full Parameterization of Version 1 and Verification

A further parametrization of a united-atom protein model coupled with coarse-grained water has been carried out to cover all amino acids (AAs). The local conformational features of each AA have been fitted on the basis of restricted coil-library statistics of high-resolution X-ray crystal structures of proteins. Potential functions were developed on the basis of combined backbone and side chain rotamer conformational preferences, or rotamer Ramachandran plots (ϕ, Ψ, χ1). Side chain-side chain and side chain-backbone interaction potentials were parametrized to fit the potential mean forces of corresponding all-atom simulations. The force field has been applied in molecular dynamics simulations of several proteins of 56-108 AA residues whose X-ray crystal and/or NMR structures are available. Starting from the crystal structures, each protein was simulated for about 100 ns. The Cα RMSDs of the calculated structures are 2.4-4.2 Å with respect to the crystal and/or NMR structures, which are still larger than but close to those of all-atom simulations (1.1-3.6 Å). Starting from the PDB structure of malate synthase G of 723 AA residues, the wall-clock time of a 30 ns simulation is about three days on a 2.65 GHz dual-core CPU. The RMSD to the experimental structure is about 4.3 Å. These results implicate the applicability of the force field in the study of protein structures.

DFT study of H-bonds in the peptide secondary structures: The backbone–side-chain and polar side-chains interactions

The backbone–side-chain interactions in the peptide secondary structures are studied by the density functional theory methods with/without periodic boundary conditions. The alanine-based two-stranded β-sheet structure infinite models and the cluster models of the C5 structures modified by the glutamic acid residue are considered. Several low-energy structures have been localized in the BLYP/plane-wave and the BLYP/6-311++G** approximations. Combined use of the quantum-topological analysis of the electron density and frequency shifts enables us to detect and describe quantitatively the non-covalent interactions and H-bonds. We found that the strongest backbone–side-chain interaction (∼37 kJ/mol) is due to the intra-chain H-bond formed by the C O backbone group and by the COOH side-chain group. The OH…O distance equals to 1.727 Å and the frequency shift of the OH stretching vibration is 370 cm −1. The polar side-chains interaction is studied in the infinite model of the alanine-based two-stranded β-sheet structure modified by the glutamic acid/lysine residues. Moderate inter-chain H-bond (∼40 kJ/mol) is formed by glutamic acid COOH group and lysine NH 2 group. The OH…N distance equals to 1.707 Å and the frequency shift of the OH stretching vibration is 770 cm −1.

New Strategies for the Design of Folded Peptoids Revealed by a Survey of Noncovalent Interactions in Model Systems

Controlling the equilibria between backbone cis- and trans-amides in peptoids, or N-substituted glycine oligomers, constitutes a significant challenge in the construction of discretely folded peptoid structures. Through the analysis of a set of monomeric peptoid model systems, we have developed new and general strategies for controlling peptoid conformation that utilize local noncovalent interactions to regulate backbone amide rotameric equilibria, including n-->pi*, steric, and hydrogen bonding interactions. The chemical functionalities required to implement these strategies are typically confined to the peptoid side chains, preserve chirality at the side chain N-alpha-carbon known to engender peptoid structure, and are fully compatible with standard peptoid synthesis techniques. Our examinations of peptoid model systems have also elucidated how solvents affect various side chain-backbone interactions, revealing fundamental aspects of these noncovalent interactions in peptoids that were largely uncharacterized previously. As validation of our monomeric model systems, we extended the scope of this study to include peptoid oligomers and have now demonstrated the importance of local steric and n-->pi* interactions in dictating the structures of larger, folded peptoids. This new, modular design strategy has guided the construction of peptoids containing 1-naphthylethyl side chains, which we show can be utilized to effectively eliminate trans-amide rotamers from the peptoid backbone, yielding the most conformationally homogeneous class of peptoid structures yet reported in terms of amide rotamerism. Overall, this research has afforded a valuable and expansive set of design tools for the construction of both discretely folded peptoids and structurally biased peptoid libraries and should shape our understanding of peptoid folding.

Mirrors in the PDB: left-handed α-turns guide design with D-amino acids

BackgroundIncorporating variable amino acid stereochemistry in molecular design has the potential to improve existing protein stability and create new topologies inaccessible to homochiral molecules. The Protein Data Bank has been a reliable, rich source of information on molecular interactions and their role in protein stability and structure. D-amino acids rarely occur naturally, making it difficult to infer general rules for how they would be tolerated in proteins through an analysis of existing protein structures. However, protein elements containing short left-handed turns and helices turn out to contain useful information. Molecular mechanisms used in proteins to stabilize left-handed elements by L-amino acids are structurally enantiomeric to potential synthetic strategies for stabilizing right-handed elements with D-amino acids.ResultsPropensities for amino acids to occur in contiguous αL helices correlate with published thermodynamic scales for incorporation of D-amino acids into αR helices. Two backbone rules for terminating a left-handed helix are found: an αR conformation is disfavored at the amino terminus, and a βR conformation is disfavored at the carboxy terminus. Helix capping sidechain-backbone interactions are found which are unique to αL helices including an elevated propensity for L-Asn, and L-Thr at the amino terminus and L-Gln, L-Thr and L-Ser at the carboxy terminus.ConclusionBy examining left-handed α-turns containing L-amino acids, new interaction motifs for incorporating D-amino acids into right-handed α-helices are identified. These will provide a basis for de novo design of novel heterochiral protein folds.

The Length Dependence of the PolyQ-mediated Protein Aggregation

Polyglutamine (polyQ) repeat disorders are caused by the expansion of CAG tracts in certain genes, resulting in transcription of proteins with abnormally long polyQ inserts. When these inserts expand beyond 35-45 glutamines, affected proteins form toxic aggregates, leading to neuron death. Chymotrypsin inhibitor 2 (CI2) with an inserted glutamine repeat has previously been used to model polyQ-mediated aggregation in vitro. However, polyQ insertion lengths in these studies have been kept below the pathogenic threshold. We perform molecular dynamics simulations to study monomer folding dynamics and dimer formation in CI2-polyQ chimeras with insertion lengths of up to 80 glutamines. Our model recapitulates the experimental results of previous studies of chimeric CI2 proteins, showing high folding cooperativity of monomers as well as protein association via domain swapping. Surprisingly, for chimeras with insertion lengths above the pathogenic threshold, monomer folding cooperativity decreases and the dominant mode for dimer formation becomes interglutamine hydrogen bonding. These results support a mechanism for pathogenic polyQ-mediated aggregation, in which expanded polyQ tracts destabilize affected proteins and promote the formation of partially unfolded intermediates. These unfolded intermediates form aggregates through associations by interglutamine interactions.

Quantitation of the nearest-neighbour effects of amino acid side-chains that restrict conformational freedom of the polypeptide chain using reversed-phase liquid chromatography of synthetic model peptides with l- and d-amino acid substitutions

Side-chain backbone interactions (or “effects”) between nearest neighbours may severely restrict the conformations accessible to a polypeptide chain and thus represent the first step in protein folding. We have quantified nearest-neighbour effects ( i to i + 1) in peptides through reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) of model synthetic peptides, where l- and d-amino acids were substituted at the N-terminal end of the peptide sequence, adjacent to a l-Leu residue. These nearest-neighbour effects (expressed as the difference in retention times of l- and d-peptide diastereomers at pHs 2 and 7) were frequently dramatic, depending on the type of side-chain adjacent to the l-Leu residue, albeit such effects were independent of mobile phase conditions. No nearest-neighbour effects were observed when residue i is adjacent to a Gly residue. Calculation of minimum energy conformations of selected peptides supported the view that, whether a l- or d-amino acid is substituted adjacent to l-Leu, its orientation relative to this bulky Leu side-chain represents the most energetically favourable configuration. We believe that such energetically favourable, and different, configurations of l- and d-peptide diastereomers affect their respective interactions with a hydrophobic stationary phase, which are thus quantified by different RP-HPLC retention times. Side-chain hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity coefficients were generated in the presence of these nearest-neighbour effects and, despite the relative difference in such coefficients generated from peptides substituted with l- or d-amino acids, the relative difference in hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity between different amino acids in the l- or d-series is maintained. Overall, our results demonstrate that such nearest-neighbour effects can clearly restrict conformational space of an amino acid side-chain in a polypeptide chain.

Intrinsic backbone preferences are fully present in blocked amino acids.

The preferences of amino acid residues for ,psi backbone angles vary strikingly among the amino acids, as shown by the backbone angle found from the (3)J(H(alpha),H(N)) coupling constant for short peptides in water. New data for the (3)J(H(alpha),H(N)) values of blocked amino acids (dipeptides) are given here. Dipeptides exhibit the full range of coupling constants shown by longer peptides such as GGXGG and dipeptides present the simplest system for analyzing backbone preferences. The dipeptide coupling constants are surprisingly close to values computed from the coil library (conformations of residues not in helices and not in sheets). Published coupling constants for GGXGG peptides agree closely with dipeptide values for all nonpolar residues and for some polar residues but not for X = D, N, T, and Y, which are probably affected by polar side chain-backbone interactions in GGXGG peptides. Thus, intrinsic backbone preferences are already determined at the dipeptide level and remain almost unchanged in GGXGG peptides and are strikingly similar in the coil library of conformations from protein structures. The simplest explanation for the backbone preferences is that backbone conformations are strongly affected by electrostatic dipole-dipole interactions in the peptide backbone and by screening of these interactions with water, which depends on nearby side chains. Strong backbone electrostatic interactions occur in dipeptides. This is shown by calculations both of backbone electrostatic energy for different conformers of the alanine dipeptide in the gas phase and by electrostatic solvation free energies of amino acid dipeptides.

On the Influence of Charged Side Chains on the Folding–Unfolding Equilibrium of β‐Peptides: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

The influence of charged side chains on the folding-unfolding equilibrium of beta-peptides was investigated by means of molecular dynamics simulations. Four different peptides containing only negatively charged side chains, positively charged side chains, both types of charged side chains (with the ability to form stabilizing salt bridges) or no charged side chains were studied under various conditions (different simulation temperatures, starting structures and solvent environment). The NMR solution structure in methanol of one of the peptides (A) has already been published; the synthesis and NMR analysis of another peptide (B) is described here. The other peptides (C and D) studied herein have hitherto not been synthesized. All four peptides A-D are expected to adopt a left-handed 3(14)-helix in solution as well as in the simulations. The resulting ensembles of structures were analyzed in terms of conformational space sampled by the peptides, folding behavior, structural properties such as hydrogen bonding, side chain-side chain and side chain-backbone interactions and in terms of the level of agreement with the NMR data available for two of the peptides. It was found that the presence of charged side chains significantly slows down the folding process in methanol solution due to the stabilization of intermediate conformers with side chain-backbone interactions. In water, where the solvent competes with the solute-solute polar interactions, the folding process to the 3(14)-helix is faster in the simulations.

Gas Phase Formation of a 310-Helix in a Three-Residue Peptide Chain: Role of Side Chain-Backbone Interactions as Evidenced by IR−UV Double Resonance Experiments

The first spectroscopic evidence for the gas-phase formation of helical structures in short peptide chains is reported, using the IR-UV double resonance technique and DFT quantum chemistry calculations. The study involves three chemically protected peptides, all based on the same Ac-(Ala)3-NH2, (Ac = acetyl, Ala = alanine) tripeptide, in which one of the Ala residues is substituted by the aromatic phenylalanine residue. For the three molecules, only one main conformer is observed in the supersonic expansion. IR analysis shows that the structure of this conformer is strongly dependent upon the substitution site: the helical 310-type structure is observed only when Phe occupies the central residue of the chain. The present work also emphasizes that the 310-helix formation does compete with other archetypal H-bonding patterns, such as 27-ribbon or mixed structures, whose relative energetics can be greatly influenced by a modest NH-aromatic interaction.

Side Chain Dependence of Intensity and Wavenumber Position of Amide I‘ in IR and Visible Raman Spectra of XA and AX Dipeptides

A series of AX and XA dipeptides in D2O have been investigated by FTIR, isotropic, and anisotropic Raman spectroscopy at acidic, neutral, and alkaline pD, to probe the influence of amino acid side chains on the amide I' band. We obtained a set of spectral parameters for each peptide, including intensities, wavenumbers, half-widths, and dipole moments, and found that these amide I' parameters are indeed dependent on the side chain. Side chains with similar characteristic properties were found to have similar effects on the amide I'. For example, dipeptides with aliphatic side chains were found to exhibit a downshift of the amide I' wavenumber, while those containing polar side chains experienced an increase in wavenumber. The N-terminal charge causes a substantial upshift of amide I', whereas the C-terminal charge causes a moderate decrease of the transition dipole moment. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations on the investigated dipeptides in vacuo yielded different correlations between theoretically and experimentally obtained wavenumbers for aliphatic/aromatic and polar/charged side chains, respectively. This might be indicative of a role of the hydration shell in transferring side chain-backbone interactions. For Raman bands, we found a correlation between amide I' depolarization ratio and wavenumber which reflects that some side chains (valine, histidine) have a significant influence on the Raman tensor. Altogether, the obtained data are of utmost importance for utilizing amide I as a tool for secondary structure analysis of polypeptides and proteins and providing an experimental basis for theoretical modeling of this important backbone mode. This is demonstrated by a rather accurate modeling for the amide I' band profiles of the IR, isotropic Raman, and anisotropic Raman spectra of the beta-amyloid fragment Abeta(1-82).

Side chain interactions determine the amyloid organization: a single layer β-sheet molecular structure of the calcitonin peptide segment 15–19

In this paper we present a detailed atomic model for a protofilament, the most basic organization level, of the amyloid fibre formed by the peptide DFNKF. This pentapeptide is a segment derived from the human calcitonin, a natural amyloidogenic protein. Our model, which represents the outcome of extensive explicit solvent molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of different strand/sheet organizations, is a single β-sheet filament largely without a hydrophobic core. Nevertheless, this structure is capable of reproducing the main features of the characteristic amyloid fibril organization and provides clues to the molecular basis of its experimental aggregation behaviour. Our results show that the side chains' chemical diversity induces the formation of a complex network of interactions that finally determine the microscopic arrangement of the strands at the protofilament level. This network of interactions, consisting of both side chain–side chain and backbone–side chain interactions, confers on the final single β-sheet arrangement an unexpected stability, both by enhancing the association of related chemical groups and, at the same time, by shielding the hydrophobic segments from the polar solvent. The chemical physical characterization of this protofilament provides hints to the possible thermodynamical basis of the supra molecular organization that allows the formation of the filaments by lateral association of the preformed protofibrils. Its regular, highly polarized structure shows how other protofilaments can assemble. In terms of structural biology, our results clearly indicate that an amyloid organization implies a degree of complexity far beyond a simple nonspecific association of peptide strands via amide hydrogen bonds.

Orientation-dependent coarse-grained potentials derived by statistical analysis of molecular structural databases

We present results obtained for anisotropic potentials for protein simulations extracted from the continually growing databases of protein structures. This work is based on the assumption that the detailed information on molecular conformations can be used to derive statistical (a.k.a. ‘knowledge-based’) potentials that can describe on a coarse-grained level the side chain–side chain interactions in peptides and proteins. The complexity of inter-residue interactions is reflected in a high degree of orientational anisotropy for the twenty amino acids. By including in this coarse-grained interaction model the possibility of quantifying the backbone–backbone and backbone–side chain interactions, important improvements are obtained in characterizing the native protein states. Results obtained from tests that involve the identification of native-like conformations from large sets of decoy structures are presented. The method for deriving orientation-dependent statistical potentials is also applied to obtain water–water interactions. Monte Carlo simulations using the new coarse-grained water model show that the locations of the minima and maxima of the oxygen–oxygen radial distribution function correspond well with experimental measurements.