Aromatic amino acids such as tyrosine (Y), phenylalanine (F) and tryptophan (W) have been widely used as guest residues in assembling peptides owing to their strong noncovalent interactions. With the presence of both a phenyl group and a hydroxyl group in the sidechain of Y, the amino acid can interact with others via both hydrophobic and hydrogen-bonding interactions and is thus an interesting target for modulation of peptide phase separation. In this work, short-length elastin-like peptides containing various numbers of Y residues were conjugated with a collagen-like peptide with the sequence (GPO)<sub>8</sub>GG.  The peptides were coupled via CUAAC reactions, and their purity was confirmed via mass spectrometry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and <sup>1</sup>H NMR spectrometry. The self-assembly of the peptides was characterized via dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. Our studies indicate that multiple Y’s must be substituted in the short ELPs to reduce the transition temperature of the ELP coacervation event, and that varying the positioning of the Y residues relative to the CLP domain results in reliable changes in the transition temperature. Atomistic simulations confirmed that Y-containing ELPs form more intra- and inter-peptide hydrogen bonds than F-only ELPs and that the location of the Y residues impacted their ability to undergo p-p stacking. These approaches provide well-defined and predictable changes in the transition temperatures of short ELPs, permitting their tuning for specific applications.

Role of tyrosine placement in modulating transition temperatures in elastin-collagen peptide conjugates

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.