Binding of λ-carrageenan (a food additive) to almond cystatin: An insight involving spectroscopic and thermodynamic approach.

Carrageenan is a high molecular weight linear sulphated polysaccharide, primarily used in food industry as gelling, thickening, and stabilizing agent. Almond milk prepared from almonds is low in fat, but high in antioxidants, energy, proteins, lipids and fibre. Purified almond cystatin was incubated with increasing concentrations of carrageenan at 25°C for different time interval and significant loss in inhibitory activity was observed. Interaction between carrageenan and cystatin resulted in complex formation as depicted by the decrease in fluorescence intensity with increase in the concentration of carrageenan. Stern-volmer analysis of fluorescence quenching data showed binding constant to be 1.84±0.20×104M-1 and number of binding sites close to unity. These results were further confirmed by supporting results obtained in UV-vis spectroscopy. FTIR analysis shows significant shift in the peak intensity and this change clearly depict change in the structure of cystatin from that of α helix to ß-sheet. CD spectra further confirmed the structural transition of the cystatin from α helix to ß-sheet structure on interaction with increased concentrations of carrageenan. The contributing thermodynamic parameters were determined by ITC. The negative ΔH° and positive TΔS° values suggest involvement of electrostatic forces and hydrophobic interaction in the formation of the λ-carrageenan-cystatin complex.

Synthesis and evaluation of TAC-based inhibitors of papain as mimics of cystatin B.

An approach for mimicking protein-protein interactions by using a discontinuous epitope to construct a mimic that is about one tenth of the size of a natural inhibitor of papain, namely, cystatin B, is described. The discontinuous epitope of cystatin B, which is involved in the interaction with papain, was mimicked by synthesis of a tripodal molecular construct by using the triazacyclophane (TAC) scaffold. The mimic contains three peptide arms: one that mimics the N terminus, one that mimics the C terminus, and one that mimics the beta-hairpin loop structure of cystatin B. These peptide sequences were assembled on the TAC scaffold. The resulting cystatin mimic, CysTACtin 9, showed excellent inhibition of papain with a K(i) of 12 nM, which approaches the inhibitory potency of cystatin B (K(i)=0.12 nM). Experiments with molecular constructs that contained one or two arms or a mixture of the nonscaffolded peptides showed that both scaffolding and the presence of the three peptide arms are crucial for a successful mimic.

Design and validation of a neutral protein scaffold for the presentation of peptide aptamers.

Peptide aptamers are peptides constrained and presented by a scaffold protein that are used to study protein function in cells. They are able to disrupt protein-protein interactions and to constitute recognition modules that allow the creation of a molecular toolkit for the intracellular analysis of protein function. The success of peptide aptamer technology is critically dependent on the performance of the scaffold. Here, we describe a rational approach to the design of a new peptide aptamer scaffold. We outline the qualities that an ideal scaffold would need to possess to be broadly useful for in vitro and in vivo studies and apply these criteria to the design of a new scaffold, called STM. Starting from the small, stable intracellular protease inhibitor stefin A, we have engineered a biologically neutral scaffold that retains the stable conformation of the parent protein. We show that STM is able to present peptides that bind to targets of interest, both in the context of known interactors and in library screens. Molecular tools based on our scaffold are likely to be used in a wide range of studies of biological pathways, and in the validation of drug targets.

Synthesis and antibacterial properties of peptidyl derivatives and cyclopeptides structurally based upon the inhibitory centre of human cystatin C. Dissociation of antiproteolytic and antibacterial effects.

Cysteine protease-inhibiting proteins of the cystatin superfamily can inhibit the replication of certain viruses and bacteria. The inhibitory centre of human cystatin C, the most widely distributed human cystatin, comprises three peptide segments. The present work describes the synthesis and antibacterial activity of 27 new peptidyl derivatives or cyclopeptides based upon the aminoterminal segment Arg8-Leu9-Val10-Gly11. Fourteen of the new compounds displayed antibacterial activity against from 1 up to 9 of 17 clinically important bacterial species tested. Antiproteolytic activity of a compound was usually not required for its antibacterial capacity. Peptidyl diazomethanes generally had a very narrow antibacterial spectrum, inhibiting only Streptococcus pyogenes, whereas cyclopeptides and peptidyl derivatives of the general structure X-Arg-Leu-NH-CH(iPr)-CH2-NH-Y had a much wider spectrum. The most potent of these substances displayed approximately equal minimal inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations of about 20 microg/ml for both Staphylococcus aureus and S. pyogenes and were devoid of antiproteolytic activity. Several of the new substances could protect mice against lethal intraperitoneal challenge with S. pyogenes. Though their target remains to be disclosed, the group of substances here reported might be promising for the development of antibacterial drugs and the discovery of novel principles of action.

Neutrophil chemotactic activity is modulated by human cystatin C, an inhibitor of cysteine proteases.

Cystatin C, a cysteine proteinase inhibitor has recently been suggested to be a potent regulator of inflammatory processes and may act in defense against viral and bacterial infections. Two common forms of the protein were purified from the urine of a patient having received a renal transplant. The slow form of cystatin C possessed the N-terminal tetrapeptide Lys Pro Pro Arg, which was cleaved in the fast form. This peptide sequence, called postin, was synthesized. The three molecules, slow and fast forms of cystatin and the synthetic peptide, were tested for their effects on the migration activity of human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs). The slow form was found to display both chemotactic and chemokinetic activities, while the fast form and postin were only chemokinetic. Nevertheless, all the substances could induce a "motile" morphology. In addition, the two forms of cystatin C were powerful inhibitors of PMN chemotaxis induced by complement-derived chemotactic factors. This suggests that cystatin C in its two different cleaved forms and the N-terminal tetrapeptide can modulate PMN locomotion. Cysteine proteases may therefore play a role in neutrophil migration activity.

Synthesis of cysteine proteinase inhibitors structurally based on the proteinase interacting N-terminal region of human cystatin C.

Peptides spanning the entire, or part of, the Gly4-Glu21 segment of the human cysteine proteinase inhibitor cystatin C have been synthesized. Peptides containing residues on the N-terminal side of Gly11 were rapidly cleaved by papain at the bond Gly11-Gly12 whereas a peptide starting at residue Gly11 was not, thus demonstrating 1. that the N-terminal segment of cystatin C has an amino acid sequence that would allow rapid interaction between this segment and the substrate pocket of papain and, if this interaction takes place, that 2. the cystatin C residue Gly11 would be in the P1 position, and 3. the major interaction would be between residues Arg8-Val10 and the papain substrate pocket subsites S4, S3 and S2, respectively. Several modified peptide derivatives containing either diazomethane groups or peptide bond isosters were synthesized based on the structure of the Leu9-Gly11 segment of cystatin C and tested for their cysteine proteinase inhibiting capacity. The peptidyl derivatives, t-butyloxycarbonyl-valyl-glycyl-diazomethane and benzyloxycarbonyl-leucyl-valyl-glycyl-diazomethane irreversible inhibited the cysteine proteinases papain, bovine cathepsin B and streptococcal proteinase, but did not influence the activity of serine, aspartic or metallo-proteinases.