Experimental lipophilicity scale for coded and noncoded amino acid residues

Addressing the Opioids Lipophilicity Challenge via a Straightforward and Simultaneous 1H NMR-Based logP/D Determination, Both Separately and in Mixtures

A systematic study of trends in the lipophilicity of prominent representatives of the opioid family, including natural, semisynthetic, synthetic, and endogenous neuropeptide opioids, is described. This was enabled by a straightforward 1H NMR-based logP/D determination method developed for compounds holding at least one aromatic hydrogen atom. Moreover, the new method enables a direct simultaneous logD determination of opioid mixtures, overcoming the high sensitivity of this family to the measurement conditions, which is critical when a determination of the exact ΔlogD values of matched pairs is required. Interpretation of the experimental ΔlogD7.4 values of selected matched pairs, focusing inter alia on the 3-OMe and 14-OMe motifs in morphinan opioids, is suggested with the aid of DFT calculations and may be useful for the discovery of new opioid therapeutics.

Proline Analogues

Within the canonical repertoire of the amino acid involved in protein biogenesis, proline plays a unique role as an amino acid presenting a modified backbone rather than a side-chain. Chemical structures that mimic proline but introduce changes into its specific molecular features are defined as proline analogues. This review article summarizes the existing chemical, physicochemical, and biochemical knowledge about this peculiar family of structures. We group proline analogues from the following compounds: substituted prolines, unsaturated and fused structures, ring size homologues, heterocyclic, e.g., pseudoproline, and bridged proline-resembling structures. We overview (1) the occurrence of proline analogues in nature and their chemical synthesis, (2) physicochemical properties including ring conformation and cis/trans amide isomerization, (3) use in commercial drugs such as nirmatrelvir recently approved against COVID-19, (4) peptide and protein synthesis involving proline analogues, (5) specific opportunities created in peptide engineering, and (6) cases of protein engineering with the analogues. The review aims to provide a summary to anyone interested in using proline analogues in systems ranging from specific biochemical setups to complex biological systems.

An active machine learning discovery platform for membrane-disrupting and pore-forming peptides

Membrane-disrupting and pore-forming peptides (PFPs) play a substantial role in bionanotechnology and can determine the life and death of cells. The control of chemical and ion transport through cell membranes is essential to maintaining concentration gradients. Likewise, the delivery of drugs and intracellular proteins aided by pore-forming agents is of interest in treating malfunctioning cells. Known PFPs tend to be up to 50 residues in length, which is commensurate with the thickness of a lipid bilayer. Accordingly, few short PFPs are known. Here we show that the discovery of PFPs can be accelerated via an active machine learning approach. The approach identified 71 potential PFPs from the 25.6 billion octapeptide sequence space; 13 sequences were tested experimentally, and all were found to have the predicted membrane-disrupting ability, with 1 forming highly stable pores. Experimental verification of the predicted pore-forming ability demonstrated that a range of short peptides can form pores in membranes, while the positioning and characteristics of residues that favour pore-forming behaviour were identified. This approach identified more ultrashort (8-residues, unmodified, non-cyclic) PFPs than previously known. We anticipate our findings and methodology will be useful in discovering new pore-forming and membrane-disrupting peptides for a range of applications from nanoreactors to therapeutics.

Synthesis and preclinical evaluation of novel 99mTc-labeled PSMA ligands for radioguided surgery of prostate cancer

BACKGROUND

Radioguided surgery (RGS) has recently emerged as a valuable new tool in the management of recurrent prostate cancer (PCa). After preoperative injection of a ^99mTc-labeled prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) inhibitor, radioguided intraoperative identification and resection of lesions is facilitated by means of suitable γ-probes. First clinical experiences show the feasibility of RGS and suggest superiority over conventional lymph node dissection in recurrent PCa. However, commonly used [^99mTc]Tc-PSMA-I&S exhibits slow whole-body clearance, thus hampering optimal tumor-to-background ratios (TBR) during surgery. We therefore aimed to develop novel ^99mTc-labeled, PSMA-targeted radioligands with optimized pharmacokinetic profile to increase TBR at the time of surgery.

METHODS

Three ^99mTc-labeled N4-PSMA ligands were preclinically evaluated and compared to [^99mTc]Tc-PSMA-I&S. PSMA affinity (IC₅₀) and internalization were determined on LNCaP cells. Lipophilicity was assessed by means of the distribution coefficient logD_7.4 and an ultrafiltration method was used to determine binding to human plasma proteins. Biodistribution studies and static µSPECT/CT-imaging were performed at 6 h p.i. on LNCaP tumor-bearing CB17-SCID mice.

RESULTS

The novel N4-PSMA tracers were readily labeled with [^99mTc]TcO₄^- with RCP > 95%. Comparable and high PSMA affinity was observed for all [^99mTc]Tc-N4-PSMA-ligands. The ligands showed variable binding to human plasma and medium to low lipophilicity (logD_7.4 - 2.6 to - 3.4), both consistently decreased compared to [^99mTc]Tc-PSMA-I&S. Biodistribution studies revealed comparable tumor uptake among all [^99mTc]Tc-N4-PSMA-ligands and [^99mTc]Tc-PSMA-I&S, while clearance from most organs was superior for the novel tracers. Accordingly, increased TBR were achieved. [^99mTc]Tc-N4-PSMA-12 showed higher TBR than [^99mTc]Tc-PSMA-I&S for blood and all evaluated tissue. In addition, a procedure suitable for routine clinical production of [^99mTc]Tc-N4-PSMA-12 was established. Labeling with 553 ± 187 MBq was achieved with RCP of 98.5 ± 0.6% (n = 10).

CONCLUSION

High tumor accumulation and favorable clearance from blood and non-target tissue make [^99mTc]Tc-N4-PSMA-12 an attractive tracer for RGS, possibly superior to currently established [^99mTc]Tc-PSMA-I&S. Its GMP-production according to a method presented here and first clinical investigations with this novel radioligand is highly recommended.

Halogenation of tyrosine perturbs large-scale protein self-organization

Protein halogenation is a common non-enzymatic post-translational modification contributing to aging, oxidative stress-related diseases and cancer. Here, we report a genetically encodable halogenation of tyrosine residues in a reconstituted prokaryotic filamentous cell-division protein (FtsZ) as a platform to elucidate the implications of halogenation that can be extrapolated to living systems of much higher complexity. We show how single halogenations can fine-tune protein structures and dynamics of FtsZ with subtle perturbations collectively amplified by the process of FtsZ self-organization. Based on experiments and theories, we have gained valuable insights into the mechanism of halogen influence. The bending of FtsZ structures occurs by affecting surface charges and internal domain distances and is reflected in the decline of GTPase activities by reducing GTP binding energy during polymerization. Our results point to a better understanding of the physiological and pathological effects of protein halogenation and may contribute to the development of potential diagnostic tools.

Tuning the Properties of Protein-Based Polymers Using High-Performance Orthogonal Translation Systems for the Incorporation of Aromatic Non-Canonical Amino Acids

The incorporation of non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) using engineered aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) has emerged as a powerful methodology to expand the chemical repertoire of proteins. However, the low efficiencies of typical aaRS variants limit the incorporation of ncAAs to only one or a few sites within a protein chain, hindering the design of protein-based polymers (PBPs) in which multi-site ncAA incorporation can be used to impart new properties and functions. Here, we determined the substrate specificities of 11 recently developed high-performance aaRS variants and identified those that enable an efficient multi-site incorporation of 15 different aromatic ncAAs. We used these aaRS variants to produce libraries of two temperature-responsive PBPs—elastin- and resilin-like polypeptides (ELPs and RLPs, respectively)—that bear multiple instances of each ncAA. We show that incorporating such aromatic ncAAs into the protein structure of ELPs and RLPs can affect their temperature responsiveness, secondary structure, and self-assembly propensity, yielding new and diverse families of ELPs and RLPs, each from a single DNA template. Finally, using a molecular model, we demonstrate that the temperature-responsive behavior of RLPs is strongly affected by both the hydrophobicity and the size of the unnatural aromatic side-chain. The ability to efficiently incorporate multiple instances of diverse ncAAs alongside the 20 natural amino acids can help to elucidate the effect of ncAA incorporation on these and many other PBPs, with the aim of designing additional precise and chemically diverse polymers with new or improved properties.

Rationally Designed Amanitins Achieve Enhanced Cytotoxicity

For 70 years, α-amanitin, the most cytotoxic peptide in its class, has been without a synthetic rival; through synthesis, we address the structure-activity relationships to inform the design of new amatoxins and disclose analogues that are more cytotoxic than the natural product when evaluated on CHO, HEK293, and HeLa cells, whereas on liver-derived HepG2 cells, the same toxins show diminished cytotoxicity.

Fluorine-Containing Prolines: Synthetic Strategies, Applications, and Opportunities

Fluorinated prolines play an important role in peptide studies, protein engineering, medicinal chemistry, drug discovery, and agrochemistry. Since the first synthesis of 4-fluoroprolines by Gottlieb and Witkop in 1965, their popularity started to grow exponentially. For example, during the past two decades, all isomeric trifluoromethyl-substituted prolines have been synthesized. In this Perspective, chemical properties and applications of fluorinated prolines are discussed. Synthetic approaches to all known fluorine-containing prolines are also discussed and analyzed. This analysis unexpectedly revealed an unsolved problem: in strict contrast to fluoro- and trifluoromethyl-substituted prolines, the corresponding analogues with fluoromethyl and difluoromethyl groups are mostly unknown. At the end of the paper, structures of several interesting, yet unknown, fluorinated prolines are disclosed─a good opportunity for chemists to make them.

Application of (4R)-aminoproline in peptide engineering: conformational bias and pH-responsiveness revisited

How do we make proline residues pH sensitive?

Protein Design with Fluoroprolines: 4,4-Difluoroproline Does Not Eliminate the Rate-Limiting Step of Thioredoxin Folding

C⁴‐substituted fluoroprolines (4R)‐fluoroproline ((4R)‐Flp) and (4S)‐fluoroproline ((4S)‐Flp) have been used in protein engineering to enhance the thermodynamic stability of peptides and proteins. The electron‐withdrawing effect of fluorine can bias the pucker of the pyrrolidine ring, influence the conformational preference of the preceding peptide bond, and can accelerate the cis/trans prolyl peptide bond isomerisation by diminishing its double bond character. The role of 4,4‐difluoroproline (Dfp) in the acceleration of the refolding rate of globular proteins bearing a proline (Pro) residue in the cis conformation in the native state remains elusive. Moreover, the impact of Dfp on the thermodynamic stability and bioactivity of globular proteins has been seldom described. In this study, we show that the incorporation of Dfp caused a redox state dependent and position dependent destabilisation of the thioredoxin (Trx) fold, while the catalytic activities of the modified proteins remained unchanged. The Pro to Dfp substitution at the conserved cisPro76 in the thioredoxin variant Trx1P did not elicited acceleration of the rate‐limiting trans‐to‐cis isomerization of the Ile75‐Pro76 peptide bond. Our results show that pucker preferences in the context of a tertiary structure could play a major role in protein folding, thus overtaking the rules determined for cis/trans isomerisation barriers determined in model peptides.

Perturbation effect of single polar group substitution on the Self-Association of amphiphilic peptide helices

As an important attempt towards creating hierarchical structures more like nature, the peptide is employed as a building block to build supramolecular architectures. An emerging question is whether the molecular mechanism of self-assembly obtained from the small molecule system, e.g., the driving forces of assembly are conventionally regarded as pairwise-additive, can be manifested in the self-association of biologically relevant amphiphilic peptides. A peptide, KRT-R, was derived from the 120-144 segment of keratin 14. The single cation-to-cation substitution with KRT-R at the site of 125 from arginine (R) to either lysine (K) or histidine (H) results in the peptide helices, KRT-K and KRT-H, sharing 96% sequence identity. These KRT-derived peptides possess similarities in the folding structures but exhibit divergent self-assembled structures. KRT-R and KRT-K self-assemble into sheets and fibrils, respectively. Whereas KRT-H associates into heterogeneous structures, including sheets, particles, and branched networks. The intrinsic tyrosine fluorescence spectroscopy measurements with the KRT-derived peptides within a temperature range of 25 °C to 95 °C reveal that the heating-triggered structural transitions of KRT-derived peptides are divergent. The alternation of single cationic residue changes the thermodynamic signature of peptide assemblies upon heating. A chemical denaturation experiment with KRT-derived peptides indicates that the intermolecular interactions that govern the supramolecular architectures formed by peptides are distinct. Overall, our work demonstrates the contribution of the interplay among various noncovalent interactions to supramolecular assembly.

Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Hybrid Glypromate Analogues Using 2-Azanorbornane as a Prolyl and Pipecolyl Surrogate

Neurodegenerative disorders of the central nervous system are a class of heterogeneous pathologies affecting millions of people worldwide and represent a global health burden in developed and developing countries. Without restorative treatments currently available, research on neuroprotective drugs is considered a health priority. In this study, new analogues of the glycyl-l-prolyl-l-glutamic acid (Glypromate) neuropeptide were designed, synthesized, and biologically evaluated using (1R,3S,4S)-2-azanorbornane-3-carboxylic acid as a hybrid construct of l-proline and l-pipecolic acid. Neuroprotection assays carried out in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells using 6-hydroxydopamine as a stress inducer showed great percentage of recovery (29.7-40.0%) at 100 μM. Among this series, [(1R,3S,4S)-2-glycyl-2-azanorbornane-3-carbonyl]-l-aspartic acid (2a) stands out with a remarkable percentage of recovery (40.0%, at 100 μM) and safe toxicological profile in SH-SY5Y and human adipose mesenchymal stem cells.

Conservation and Identity Selection of Cationic Residues Flanking the Hydrophobic Regions in Intermediate Filament Superfamily

The interplay between the hydrophobic interactions generated by the nonpolar region and the proximal functional groups within nanometers of the nonpolar region offers a promising strategy to manipulate the intermolecular hydrophobic attractions in an artificial molecule system, but the outcomes of such modulations in the building of a native protein architecture remain unclear. Here we focus on the intermediate filament (IF) coiled-coil superfamily to assess the conservation of positively charged residue identity via a biostatistical approach. By screening the disease-correlated mutations throughout the IF superfamily, 10 distinct hotspots where a cation-to-cation substitution is associated with a pathogenic syndrome have been identified. The analysis of the local chemical context surrounding the hotspots revealed that the cationic diversity depends on their separation distance to the hydrophobic domain. The nearby cationic residues flanking the hydrophobic domain of a helix (separation <1 nm) are relatively conserved in evolution. In contrast, the cationic residues that are not adjacent to the hydrophobic domain (separation >1 nm) tolerate higher levels of variation and replaceability. We attribute this bias in the conservation degree of the cationic residue identity to reflect the interplay between the proximal cations and the hydrophobic interactions.