Structural and Dynamical Properties of Elastin-Like Peptides near Their Lower Critical Solution Temperature.Show others and affiliations
2023 (English)In: Biomacromolecules, ISSN 1525-7797, E-ISSN 1526-4602, Vol. 24, no 4, p. 1912-1923Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Elastin-like peptides (ELPs) are artificially derived intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) mimicking the hydrophobic repeat unit in the protein elastin. ELPs are characterized by a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) in aqueous media. Here, we investigate the sequence GVG(VPGVG)3 over a wide range of temperatures (below, around, and above the LCST) and peptide concentrations employing all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, where we focus on the role of intra- and interpeptide interactions. We begin by investigating the structural properties of a single peptide that demonstrates a hydrophobic collapse with temperature, albeit moderate, because the sequence length is short. We observe a change in the interaction between two peptides from repulsive to attractive with temperature by evaluating the potential of mean force, indicating an LCST-like behavior. Next, we explore dynamical and structural properties of peptides in multichain systems. We report the formation of dynamical aggregates with coil-like conformation, in which valine central residues play an important role. Moreover, the lifetime of contacts between chains strongly depends on the temperature and can be described by a power-law decay that is consistent with the LCST-like behavior. Finally, the peptide translational and internal motion are slowed by an increase in the peptide concentration and temperature.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Chemical Society (ACS), 2023. Vol. 24, no 4, p. 1912-1923
National Category
Biophysics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-58859DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00124ISI: 000945679200001PubMedID: 36877869Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85149788120OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-58859DiVA, id: diva2:1746185
2023-03-272023-03-272023-10-09Bibliographically approved