Peptide bonds structure

Peptide bond structure. The peptide bond structure favors coplanar N, C, and O atoms. Although a peptide bond is formally a carbon-nitrogen single bond, the unpaired electrons on the carboxyl oxygen and on the nitrogen can overlap through their pi orbitals to make the three-atom system partially double-bonded in character. The partially double-bonded system makes it harder to rotate the peptide bond in solution. As a result, peptide bonds can exist in one of two conformational isomers, with the two carbons either cis or trans to each other. 

Where helical secondaiy structures are represented by the cylinder model, the /i-strand. structures are visualized by the ribbon model (see the ribbons in Figure 2-124c). The broader side of these ribbons is oriented parallel to the peptide bond. Other representations replace the flat ribbons with flat arrows to visualize the sequence of the primary structure. 

Peptide (Section 27 7) Structurally a molecule composed of two or more a ammo acids joined by peptide bonds Peptide bond (Section 27 7) An amide bond between the car boxyl group of one a amino acid and the ammo group of another... 

All protein molecules are polymers built up from 20 different amino acids linked end-to-end by peptide bonds. The function of every protein molecule depends on its three-dimensional structure, which in turn is determined by its amino acid sequence, which in turn is determined by the nucleotide sequence of the structural gene. 

Carboxypeptidases are zinc-containing enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of polypeptides at the C-terminal peptide bond. The bovine enzyme form A is a monomeric protein comprising 307 amino acid residues. The structure was determined in the laboratory of William Lipscomb, Harvard University, in 1970 and later refined to 1.5 A resolution. Biochemical and x-ray studies have shown that the zinc atom is essential for catalysis by binding to the carbonyl oxygen of the substrate. This binding weakens the C =0 bond by... 

In the native protein these less stable ds-proline peptides are stabilized by the tertiary structure but in the unfolded state these constraints are relaxed and there is an equilibrium between ds- and trans-isomers at each peptide bond. When the protein is refolded a substantial fraction of the molecules have one or more proline-peptide bonds in the incorrect form and the greater the number of proline residues the greater the fraction of such molecules. Cis-trans isomerization of proline peptides is intrinsically a slow process and in vitro it is frequently the rate-limiting step in folding for those molecules that have been trapped in a folding intermediate with the wrong isomer. 

Serine proteinases such as chymotrypsin and subtilisin catalyze the cleavage of peptide bonds. Four features essential for catalysis are present in the three-dimensional structures of all serine proteinases a catalytic triad, an oxyanion binding site, a substrate specificity pocket, and a nonspecific binding site for polypeptide substrates. These four features, in a very similar arrangement, are present in both chymotrypsin and subtilisin even though they are achieved in the two enzymes in completely different ways by quite different three-dimensional structures. Chymotrypsin is built up from two p-barrel domains, whereas the subtilisin structure is of the a/p type. These two enzymes provide an example of convergent evolution where completely different loop regions, attached to different framework structures, form similar active sites. 

Now, it is seen that polar groups dominate the molecular structure, resulting from hydroxyl groups from the two serine and threonine fragments in addition to the peptide bonds themselves. Only weak dispersive interactions will be contributed by glycine fragments (CH2 groups). 

The most important aspect of Table 27.1 is that the 20 anino acids that occur in proteins share the common feature of being a-anino acids, and the differences fflnong them are in their side chains. Peptide bonds linking carboxyl and a-anino groups characterize the structure of proteins, but it is the side chains that are mainly responsible for theh properties. The side chains of the 20 commonly occuning amino acids encompass both large and small differences. The major differences between amino acid side chains concern ... 

Peptide (Section 27.7) Structurally, a molecule composed of two or more a-amino acids joined by peptide bonds. 

Parallel /3-sheets tend to be more regular than antiparallel /3-sheets. The range of (f) and i/t angles for the peptide bonds in parallel sheets is much smaller than that for antiparallel sheets. Parallel sheets are typically large structures those composed of less than five strands are rare. Antiparallel sheets, however, may consist of as few as two strands. Parallel sheets characteristically distribute... 

Nissen P, Hansen J, Ban N et al (2000) The structural basis of ribosome activity in peptide bond synthesis. Science 289 920-930... 

Each polytripeptide chain is twisted around a threefold screw axis and exists in a secondary structure, analogous to the left-handed polyproline II-helix, i.e. with transposition of the peptide bond (pitch 8.4 A, 3 amino acids) (Figs. 2,3). 

The loss of structure by a protein is called denaturation. This structural change may be a loss of quaternary, tertiary, or secondary structure it may also be degradation of the primary structure by cleavage of the peptide bonds. Even mild heating can cause irreversible denaturation. When we cook an egg, the protein called albumen denatures into a white mass. The permanent waving of hair, which consists primarily of long a helices of the protein keratin, is a result of partial denaturation. 

A segment of a protein is analyzed and found to contain the amino acid sequence Glu-Lcu-Asp. Draw the Lewis structure of this segment, showing the peptide bonds. 

The primary structure - the sequence of peptide-bonded amino acids in the protein chain and the location of any disulfide bridges. 

A comparison of the structures of penicillin and Dalanyl-Dalanine (cf. structures 41 and 42) shows that there is a great deal of similarity between the two molecules. Penicillin is essentially an acylated cyclic dipeptide of Dcysteine and Dvaline (84). As such, it contains a peptide bond, that of the /3-lactam ring, that can acylate the enzyme. Labeling studies of the peptidoglycan transpeptidase of Bacillus subtilis indicate that radioactive penicillin reacts with a sulfhydryl group of a cysteine residue of the enzyme (86). 

In view of these constraints, we recently suggested a different strategy for the improvement of the material properties of synthetic poly (amino acids) (12). Our approach is based on the replacement of the peptide bonds in the backbone of synthetic poly(amino acids) by a variety of "nonamide" Linkages. "Backbone modification," as opposed to "side chain modification," represents a fundamentally different approach that has not yet been explored in detail and that can potentially be used to prepare a whole family of structurally new polymers. 

---