Amino acids bracketing the predicted transmembrane domains of membrane proteins

Enantiomer separation by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with novel hydrophobic phases composed of chiral cationic surfactants

This paper describes enantiomer separation using four kinds of chiral stationary phases (CSPs) where quaternary ammonium surfactants containing L-valine diamide moieties into long alkyl chains were bound to silicagel supports by reversed phase liquid chromatography. Our aim was to examine hydrogen bonding association of the chiral moiety in hydrophobic phase brought about by aggregation of the micelle-forming surfactants on the surface. The following CSPs were thus derived from the vinyl-terminated chiral surfactants via hydrosilylation: CSP 1 from N-[3-(10-undecenoyl-L-valylamino)propyl]-N,N,N-trimethylammonium bromide, CSP 2 from N-[6-(10-undecenoyl-L-valylamino)hexyl]-N,N,N-trimethyl-ammonium bromide, CSP 3 from N-[3-(10-undecenoyl-L-valylamino)propyl]-N-octadecanyl-N,N-dimethyl-ammonium bromide and CSP 4 from N-[6-(10-undecenoyl-L-valylamino)hexyl]-N-octadecanyl-N,N-dimethylammonium bromide. The degree of hydrophobicity in the interfacial phase was observed by measuring pyrene fluorescence in aqueous media including an organic modifier. Retention of racemic N-acylleucine isopropyl esters was highest in CSP 4, followed by 3, 2, and 1. Largest alpha values toward enantiomer separation were observed for CSP 4 where the chiral moieties were kept through a hexamethylene unit apart from the polar head groups and to which another long alkyl chain was attached, as compared with those for CSP 4. In CSP 4, the chiral moiety to interact with enantiomeric solutes should be buried into the interfacial phase deeply in more extent than CSP 3. In a similar manner, CSP 2 has more effective for enantiomer separation than CSP 1. The interfacial phase of these CSPs was easily exposed to the bulk phase because of the affinity between the bulk phase and the polar head groups as well as their electrostatic repulsion. However, degree of the enantiomer separation can be controlled by the depth of the chiral moiety in the hydrophobic interfacial phase.

Formation of the antiplanar-antiplanar phosphate conformation of dilauroylphosphatidylcholine bilayers

Infrared spectroscopy was used to investigate lipid conformational changes that occur in dilauroylphosphatidylcholine (diC12PC) bilayers with and without fatty-acid-amino-acids as guest molecules in the membrane. Incorporating 2.5 mole% N-decanoylglycine (decgly) into diC12PC liposomes caused formation of the antiplanar-antiplanar (ap-ap) phosphodiester conformation which was stable in room temperature IR spectra. Several other fatty-acid-amino-acids incorporated into diC12PC bilayers were found to also elicit the ap-ap phosphodiester conformation. Unlike these diC12PC/fatty-acid-amino-acid mixed bilayers, pure diC12PC bilayers would form the ap-ap phosphodiester conformation only under low temperature incubation conditions. Dry diC12PC films incubated at 5 degrees C for 0.5 h (brief incubation) or 16 h (prolonged incubation), and then rapidly hydrated (i.e., vortexed at 25 degrees C in D2O), caused the ap-ap phosphodiester conformation to persist in the diC12PC liposomes equilibrated to room temperature. Slow hydration for 16 h at 5 degrees C in both buffered and non-buffered D2O of diC12PC lipid films also produced the ap-ap phosphodiester conformation. In contrast, slow hydration for 16 h at 5 degrees C in PBS/D2O of diC12PC/decgly mixed films caused the greatest number of ap-ap phosphodiester conformers. Using pure diC12PC bilayers, infrared data indicate that incubation of diC12PC films causes the headgroup phosphodiester conformation to change from gauche-gauche (g-g) conformation to the ap-ap conformation. Under all liposome formation conditions examined, no changes in hydration of either the phosphate group or the carbonyl ester group were detected and in addition, no trans/gauche conformational changes in the acyl chain were observed.