Lipid-like behavior of signal sequence peptides at air–water interface

Stitching together a nm thick peptide-based semiconductor sheet using UV light

Langmuir monolayer allows for a two-dimensional nano-scale organization of amphiphilic molecules. We have adapted this technique to measure lateral and transverse conductivity in confined peptide nanosheets for the first time. We reported that two retro-isomers amphipathic peptides form stable monolayers showing a semiconductor-like behavior. Both peptides exhibit the same hydrophobicity and surface stability. They differ in the lateral conductivity and current-voltage due to the asymmetric peptide bond backbone orientation at the interface. Both peptides contain several tyrosines allowing the lateral crosslinking in neighboring molecules induced by UVB. UVB-light induces changes in the lateral conductivity and current-voltage behavior as well as monolayer heterogeneity monitored by Brewster Angle Microscopy. The semiconductor properties depend on the peptide bond backbone orientation and tyrosine crosslinking. Our results indicate that one may design extended nano-sheets with particular electric properties, reminiscent of semiconductors. We propose to exploit such properties for biosensing and neural interfaces.

Aβ-Amyloid Fibrils Are Self-Triggered by the Interfacial Lipid Environment and Low Peptide Content

We studied the surface properties of Aβ(1-40) amyloid peptides mixed with 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (POPC) (liquid state) or 1,2-disteraoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DSPC) (solid state) phospholipids by using nanostructured lipid/peptide films (Langmuir monolayers). Pure Aβ(1-40) amyloid peptides form insoluble monolayers without forming fibril-like structures. In a lipid environment [phospholipid/Aβ(1-40) peptide mixtures], we observed that both miscibility and stability of the films depend on the peptide content. At low Aβ(1-40) amyloid peptide proportion (from 2.5 to 10% of peptide area proportion), we observed the formation of a fibril-like structure when mixed only with POPC lipids. The stability acquired by these mixed films is within 20-35 mN·m^-1 compatible with the equivalent surface pressure postulated for natural biomembranes. Fibrils are clearly evidenced directly from the monolayers by using Brewster angle microscopy. The so-called nanostructured fibrils are thioflavin T positive when observed by fluorescence microscopy. The amyloid fibril network at the surface was also evidenced by atomic force microscopy when the films are transferred onto a mica support. Aβ(1-40) amyloid mixed with the solid DSPC lipid showed an immiscible behavior in all peptide proportions without fibril formation. We postulated that the amyloid fibrillogenesis at the membrane can be dynamically nano-self-triggered at the surface by the quality of the interfacial environment, that is, the physical state of the water-lipid interface and the relative content of amyloid protein present at the interface.

Interfacial Self-Assembly of Antimicrobial Peptide GL13K into Non-Fibril Crystalline β-Sheets

The need for new and potent antibiotics in an era of increasing multidrug resistance in bacteria has driven the search for new antimicrobial agents, including the design of synthetic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). While a number of β-sheet forming AMPs have been proposed, their similarity to β-amyloids raises a number of concerns associated with neurodegenerative states. GL13K is an effective, synthetic AMP that selectively folds into β-sheets at anionic interfaces. Moreover, it is one of relatively few AMPs that preferentially fold into β-sheets without bridging disulfides. The interfacial activity of GL13K and its propensity to form amyloid fibrils have not been investigated. Using structural studies at the air/water interface and in the absence of anionic lipids, we demonstrate that while GL13K does form crystalline β-sheets, it does not self-assemble into fibrils. This work emphasizes the requirement for a single charged amino acid in the hydrophobic face to prevent fibril formation in synthetic peptides.

Evaluating polymeric biomaterial-environment interfaces by Langmuir monolayer techniques

Polymeric biomaterials are of specific relevance in medical and pharmaceutical applications due to their wide range of tailorable properties and functionalities. The knowledge about interactions of biomaterials with their biological environment is of crucial importance for developing highly sophisticated medical devices. To achieve optimal in vivo performance, a description at the molecular level is required to gain better understanding about the surface of synthetic materials for tailoring their properties. This is still challenging and requires the comprehensive characterization of morphological structures, polymer chain arrangements and degradation behaviour. The review discusses selected aspects for evaluating polymeric biomaterial-environment interfaces by Langmuir monolayer methods as powerful techniques for studying interfacial properties, such as morphological and degradation processes. The combination of spectroscopic, microscopic and scattering methods with the Langmuir techniques adapted to polymers can substantially improve the understanding of their in vivo behaviour.

Reversing the peptide sequence impacts on molecular surface behaviour

The protein's primary structure has all the information for specific protein/peptide folding and, in many cases, can define specific amphiphilic regions along molecules that are important for interaction with membranes. In order to shed light on how peptide sequence is important for the surface properties of amphiphilic peptides, we designed three pairs of peptides with the following characteristics: (1) all molecules have the same hydrophobic residues; (2) the couples differ from each other in their hydrophilic amino acids: positively, negatively and non-charged; (3) each pair has the same residues (same global molecular hydrophobicity) but the primary structure is reversed in comparison to its partner (retro-isomer), giving a molecule with a hydrophilic N or C-terminus and a hydrophobic C or N-terminus. Using the Langmuir monolayer approach, we observed that sequence reversal has a central role in the lateral stability of peptide monolayers, in the ability of the molecules to partition into the air-water interface and in the rheological properties of peptide films, whereas the peptide's secondary structure, determined by ATR-FTIR, was the same for all peptides. Reversing the sequence also gives a differential way of peptide/lipid interaction when peptides are in the presence of POPC lipid bilayers. Our results show how sequence inversion confers a distinctive peptide surface behaviour and lipid interaction for molecules with a similar structure.

Comparison between the behavior of different hydrophobic peptides allowing membrane anchoring of proteins

Membrane binding of proteins such as short chain dehydrogenase reductases or tail-anchored proteins relies on their N- and/or C-terminal hydrophobic transmembrane segment. In this review, we propose guidelines to characterize such hydrophobic peptide segments using spectroscopic and biophysical measurements. The secondary structure content of the C-terminal peptides of retinol dehydrogenase 8, RGS9-1 anchor protein, lecithin retinol acyl transferase, and of the N-terminal peptide of retinol dehydrogenase 11 has been deduced by prediction tools from their primary sequence as well as by using infrared or circular dichroism analyses. Depending on the solvent and the solubilization method, significant structural differences were observed, often involving α-helices. The helical structure of these peptides was found to be consistent with their presumed membrane binding. Langmuir monolayers have been used as membrane models to study lipid-peptide interactions. The values of maximum insertion pressure obtained for all peptides using a monolayer of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-ethanolamine (DOPE) are larger than the estimated lateral pressure of membranes, thus suggesting that they bind membranes. Polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy has been used to determine the structure and orientation of these peptides in the absence and in the presence of a DOPE monolayer. This lipid induced an increase or a decrease in the organization of the peptide secondary structure. Further measurements are necessary using other lipids to better understand the membrane interactions of these peptides.