Structure-activity relationships of anti-HIV-1 peptides with disulfide linkage between D- and L-cysteine at positions i and i+3, respectively, derived from HIV-1 gp41 C-peptide

Exp Mol Med. 2006 Feb 28;38(1):18-26. doi: 10.1038/emm.2006.3.

Abstract

The constrained a-helical structure of a C-peptide is useful for enhancing anti-HIV-1 activity. The i and i+3 positions in an a-helical structure are located close together, therefore D-Cys (dC) and L-Cys (C) were introduced at the positions, respectively, to make a dC-C disulfide bond in 28mer C-peptides. Accordingly, this study tested whether a dC-C disulfide bond would increase the a-helicity and anti-HIV-1 activity of peptides. A C-peptide can be divided into three domains, the N-terminal hydrophobic domain (HPD), middle interface domain (IFD), and C-terminal hydrogen domain (HGD), based on the binding property with an N-peptide. In general, the dC-C modifications in HPD enhanced the anti-HIV-1 activity, while those in IFD and HGD resulted in no or much less activity. The modified peptides with no activity clearly showed much less a-helicity than the native peptides, while those with higher activity showed an almost similar or slightly increased alpha-helicity. Therefore, the present results suggest that the introduction of a dC-C bridge in the N-terminal hydrophobic domain of a C-peptide may be useful for enhancing the anti-HIV-1 activity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Anti-HIV Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Anti-HIV Agents / chemistry*
  • Anti-HIV Agents / isolation & purification
  • Anti-HIV Agents / pharmacology*
  • Cell Line
  • Circular Dichroism
  • Cysteine / chemistry
  • Disulfides / chemistry
  • HIV Envelope Protein gp41 / chemistry*
  • HIV-1 / drug effects*
  • HIV-1 / growth & development
  • Humans
  • Inhibitory Concentration 50
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Peptides / chemical synthesis
  • Peptides / chemistry*
  • Peptides / isolation & purification
  • Peptides / pharmacology*
  • Protein Structure, Secondary
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Anti-HIV Agents
  • Disulfides
  • HIV Envelope Protein gp41
  • Peptides
  • Cysteine