Conformations of Betanova in aqueous trifluoroethanol

Conformations of the designed peptide Betanova in 42% trifluoroethanol/water (v/v) were explored. Circular dichroism (CD) observations provided no evidence for the presence of significant amounts of β-structures in water, in TFE/water, or in ethanol/water. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) diffusion experiments showed no significant difference in the hydrodynamic radius of the peptide in water and in 42% TFE/water. However, calculations indicated that the hydrodynamic radii of the triple-stranded β-sheet, originally proposed for Betanova by Kortemme et al. (Science 1998, 281, 253-256), and a variety of partially folded forms of Betanova would be similar and likely could not be convincingly distinguished by diffusion experiments. Temperature coefficients (Δδ/ΔT) of the peptide NH chemical shifts are similar in water and 42% TFE/water, implying that most of these protons are highly solvent exposed in both solvents and likely do not participate in intramolecular hydrogen bonding interactions. Possible exceptions to this conclusion are the Lys9 and Lys15 residues, where a more positive coefficient may indicate that these residues are involved to some extent in local turn structures. Peptide proton–solvent fluorine intermolecular nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE)s at 25°C were consistent with the presence of a mixture of conformations, which could include the triple-stranded β-sheet structure as a minor component. At 0°C, peptide-TFE NOEs indicated that TFE interacts strongly enough with many protons of Betanova that alcohol-peptide interactions persist for times of the order of nanoseconds, appreciably longer than the encounter time characteristic of mutual diffusion of TFE and the solute. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 93: 893–903, 2010.