Structure of dipeptides having N-terminal selenocysteine residues: a DFT study in gas and aqueous phase

Quantum mechanical investigations on the role of C-terminal residue in influencing the structural features of dipeptides containing N-terminal proline

This study investigates the influence of the side chain moiety of C-terminal residue on the structural and molecular properties of seven dipeptides having proline at their N-terminal positions. The C-terminal component of the dipeptides is varied with seven different combinations viz. Ala, Leu, Asp, Thr, Asn, Arg and Sec. The calculations are carried out using B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory in gas and implicit aqueous phase. Effects of explicit aqueous environment on the dipeptide structures are also investigated for two systems. The results furnished by this DFT study provide valuable information regarding the role of the side chain groups of C-terminal residues in determining the structural features of the amide planes, values of the ψ and ф dihedrals, geometry about the α-carbon atoms, theoretical IR spectra as well as the number and type of intramolecular H-bond interactions existing in the dipeptides, and extend a fine corroboration to the earlier theoretical and experimental observations. In aqueous phase the dipeptide geometries exhibit larger values of total dipole moments, greater HOMO-LUMO energy gaps and enhanced thermodynamic stability than those in gas phase. The explicit water molecules are found to modify the geometrical parameters related to the amide planes and vibrational spectra of the dipeptides.

Nearest-neighbor interactions and their influence on the structural aspects of dipeptides

In this theoretical study, the role of the side chain moiety of C-terminal residue in influencing the structural and molecular properties of dipeptides is analyzed by considering a series of seven dipeptides. The C-terminal positions of the dipeptides are varied with seven different amino acid residues, namely. Val, Leu, Asp, Ser, Gln, His, and Pyl while their N-terminal positions are kept constant with Sec residues. Full geometry optimization and vibrational frequency calculations are carried out at B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level in gas and aqueous phase. The stereo-electronic effects of the side chain moieties of C-terminal residues are found to influence the values of Φ and Ω dihedrals, planarity of the peptide planes, and geometry around the C₇   α-carbon atoms of the dipeptides. The gas phase intramolecular H-bond combinations of the dipeptides are similar to those in aqueous phase. The theoretical vibrational spectra of the dipeptides reflect the nature of intramolecular H-bonds existing in the dipeptide structures. Solvation effects of aqueous environment are evident on the geometrical parameters related to the amide planes, dipole moments, HOMOLUMO energy gaps as well as thermodynamic stability of the dipeptides.

Frequency of dipeptides and antidipeptides

Although it is reasonable to expect that the frequency of a generic dipeptide XY in proteins is the same of its counterpart YX, on the basis of an accurate statistical analysis of a large number of protein sequences, it appears that some dipeptides XY are considerably more frequent than their mirror images YX, referred to as antidipeptides. Given that it has been verified that this unexpected anisotropic frequency of occurrence is unbiased by the type of protein sequences that are analyzed, it is possible to conclude that this is a genuine phenomenon. Nevertheless, it was impossible to find the mechanism underlying this unexpected phenomenon, which does not seem to be related to diverse conformational propensities, to the different conformational flexibility of the peptide/antidipeptide pair, to dissimilar accessibility to the solvent or to gene random mutations.