Origins of structural flexibility in protein-based supramolecular polymers revealed by DEER spectroscopy

J Phys Chem B. 2014 Aug 21;118(33):9881-9. doi: 10.1021/jp505643w. Epub 2014 Aug 11.

Abstract

Modular assembly of bio-inspired supramolecular polymers is a powerful technique to develop new soft nanomaterials, and protein folding is a versatile basis for preparing such materials. Previous work demonstrated a significant difference in the physical properties of closely related supramolecular polymers composed of building blocks in which identical coiled-coil-forming peptides are cross-linked by one of two subtly different organic linkers (one flexible and the other rigid). Herein, we investigate the molecular basis for this observation by isolating a single subunit of the supramolecular polymer chain and probing its structure and conformational flexibility by double electron-electron resonance (DEER) spectroscopy. Experimental spin-spin distance distributions for two different labeling sites coupled with molecular dynamics simulations provide insights into how the linker structure impacts chain dynamics in the coiled-coil supramolecular polymer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Circular Dichroism
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy*
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Peptides / chemical synthesis
  • Peptides / chemistry*
  • Peptides / metabolism
  • Polymers / chemistry*
  • Protein Structure, Secondary
  • Spin Labels

Substances

  • Peptides
  • Polymers
  • Spin Labels