Amyloid-like Fibrils from a Diphenylalanine Capped with an Aromatic Fluorenyl

Langmuir. 2018 Dec 18;34(50):15551-15559. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b03378. Epub 2018 Nov 30.

Abstract

The self-assembly behavior of a diphenylalanine amphiphile blocked at the C-terminus with a 9-fluorenylmethyl ester and stabilized at the N-terminus with a trifluoroacetate (TFA) anion, TFA·FF-OFm, has been examined. At low peptide concentration (0.5 mg/mL), long amyloid-like fibrils, which come from the fusion of two or more helical ribbons and/or thinner fibrils, organized in bundles or as individual entities are detected. Microbeam synchrotron radiation infrared spectroscopy has shown that TFA·FF-OFm molecules in amyloid-like fibrils arrange, forming antiparallel β-sheets. Alteration of the experimental conditions to prioritize the thermodynamic contribution with respect to the kinetic one in the self-assembly process inhibits the organization of amyloid-like structures in favor of the formation of conventional fibrous structures. On the basis of experimental observations, a structural model where the individual antiparallel β-sheets are oriented in parallel has been proposed for TFA·FF-OFm amyloid-like fibrils.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Dipeptides
  • Fluorenes / chemistry*
  • Molecular Structure
  • Peptides / chemistry
  • Phenylalanine / analogs & derivatives*
  • Phenylalanine / chemical synthesis
  • Phenylalanine / chemistry

Substances

  • Dipeptides
  • Fluorenes
  • Peptides
  • phenylalanylphenylalanine
  • Phenylalanine