Exploiting diverse stereochemistry of β-amino acids: toward a rational design of sheet-forming β-peptide systems

In situ captured antibacterial action of membrane-incising peptide lamellae

Developing unique mechanisms of action are essential to combat the growing issue of antimicrobial resistance. Supramolecular assemblies combining the improved biostability of non-natural compounds with the complex membrane-attacking mechanisms of natural peptides are promising alternatives to conventional antibiotics. However, for such compounds the direct visual insight on antibacterial action is still lacking. Here we employ a design strategy focusing on an inducible assembly mechanism and utilized electron microscopy (EM) to follow the formation of supramolecular structures of lysine-rich heterochiral β3-peptides, termed lamellin-2K and lamellin-3K, triggered by bacterial cell surface lipopolysaccharides. Combined molecular dynamics simulations, EM and bacterial assays confirmed that the phosphate-induced conformational change on these lamellins led to the formation of striped lamellae capable of incising the cell envelope of Gram-negative bacteria thereby exerting antibacterial activity. Our findings also provide a mechanistic link for membrane-targeting agents depicting the antibiotic mechanism derived from the in-situ formation of active supramolecules.

β(3R3)-Peptides: design and synthesis of novel peptidomimetics and their self-assembling properties at the air-water interface

In this study we present the design and synthesis of a novel class of peptidomimetics, the β(3R3)-peptides. Via alternating directions of the amide bonds along β-peptide sequences, β(3R3)-peptides can potentially extend the structural space available to β-peptidic foldamers. Detailed analysis at the air-water interface shows strand conformations and the formation of sheet assemblies with different degrees of crystallinity. Furthermore β(3R3)-peptides exhibit a high proteolytic stability thus making them an interesting new class of peptidomimetics for biomedical applications.

Bis(4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl) ether as coupling reagent for peptide synthesis

Bis(4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl) ether (4) was prepared by treatment of 2-hydroxy-4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine with 2-chloro-4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine in 61% yield. Ether 4, isoelectronic with pyrocarbonates, was found capable to activate carboxylic acids in the presence of 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) to yield, under mild reaction conditions, superactive triazine esters. Versatility of this new coupling reagent was confirmed by condensation of lipophilic and sterically hindered carboxylic acids with amines in 71-98% yield, and by synthesis of peptides, including those containing Aib-Aib sequence, in solution with high yield and high enantiomeric purity.