Solution structure of a novel D-naphthylalanine substituted peptide with potential antibacterial and antifungal activities

A new type of Trp-rich peptide, Ac-KWRRWVRWl-NH2, designated as Pac-525, was found to possess improved activity against both gram-positive and negative bacteria. We have synthesized two Pac-525 analogues, -Pac-525 containing all D-amino acids and Nal-Pac-525, the D-Pac-525 analogue with tryptophan replaced by D-β. naphthylalanine. We have determined the solution structure of D-Nal-Pac-525 bound to membrane-mimetic DPC micelles by two-dimensional NMR methods. The DPC micelle-bound structure of D-Nal-Pac-525 adopts a left-hand α-helical segment and the positively charged residues are clustered together to form a hydrophilic patch. The surface electrostatic potential map indicates the three D-β-naphthylalanines are packed against the peptide backbone and form an amphipathic structure. A variety of biophysical and biochemical experiments, including circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy, and microcalorimetry, were used to show that D-Nal-Pac-525 interacted strongly with negatively charged phospholipid vesicles and induced efficient dye release from these vesicles, suggesting that the strong antimicrobial activity of D-Nal-Pac-525 may be due to interactions with bacterial and fungus membranes.