Solution Conformation of a Potent Cyclic Analogue of Tuftsin: Low- Temperature Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Study in a Cryoprotective Mixture

Tuftsin, a linear tetrapeptide (Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg), corresponding to the sequence 289−292 of the heavy chain of leukokinin, has been the object of intensive SAR studies during the past 30 years, owing to its numerous biological activities and to the possibility of generating a novel anticancer drug. A cyclic tuftsin analogue, c-[T-K-P-R-G], has biological activity 50 times higher than that of the parent linear peptide. Here we present a conformational study of c-[T-K-P-R-G] based on NMR data in a cryoprotective DMSO/water mixture. The preferred conformation is a type VIa turn centered on the K-P residues. The orientation of the side chains of the two basic residues (K and R) may represent the essential feature of the bioactive conformation of tuftsin. A possible role of tuftsin as a DNA binding motif is suggested by the similarity of the bioactive conformation of c-[T-K-P-R-G] and of the β-turn conformation proposed by Suzuki for the [T,S]-P-K-R motif.