COMMUNICATIONS
d 0.04 (s, 36H, SiMe3), 6.92 ± 7.11 (m, 24H, Ph), 7.40 ± 7.74 (m, 16H, Ph);
13C{1H} NMR (75.47 MHz, C6D6, 258C, TMS): d 3.65 (SiMe3), 130.09,
132.87, 139.25, 140.44 (Ph); 31P{1H} NMR (161.92 MHz, C6D6, 258C, 80%
H3PO4): d 12.34.
A Synthetic Pore-Mediated Transmembrane
Transport of Glutamic Acid**
Â
Jorge Sanchez-Quesada, Hui Sun Kim, and
M. Reza Ghadiri*
Received: January 18, 2001
Revised: March 22, 2001 [Z16444]
Synthetic constructs that are specifically designed to allow
transport of hydrophilic substances across cell membranes are
important research tools with possible applications in gene
and antisense therapy, metabolite regulation, and drug
delivery.[1] However, surprisingly the design of synthetic
transmembrane pores from first principles has remained
largely unexplored.[2, 3] Here we describe the design and
functional characterization of a self-assembling transmem-
brane peptide nanotube channel that is capable of highly
efficient transport of l-glutamic acid.
Appropriately designed cyclic peptides with an even
number of hydrophobic a-amino acids with alternating d
and l configurations have been previously shown to self-
assemble through directed hydrogen-bonding networks into
antiparallel b-sheet tubular structures in lipid bilayers forming
active ion channels.[4] One attractive feature of the self-
assembling peptide nanotube class of transmembrane supra-
molecular structures is that pore size can be tuned by the
choice[5] and the number of a-amino acids employed in the
cyclic peptide subunit design. In this context we have shown
previously that cyclic octapeptides size-selectively transport
small ions,[4, 6] whereas decapeptides can also transport small
molecules such as glucose.[3]
The present system is based on eight- and ten-residue cyclic
peptides 1[4] and 2,[3] respectively, which form transmembrane
channels (Scheme 1). Inspection of space-filling models
derived from X-ray structural analogues of peptide nanotubes
suggests that a completely dehydrated glutamate ion in an
extended conformation would barely fit inside a channel
formed by the cyclic octapeptide 1 (7 van der Waals
internal diameter) but could be easily accommodated in a
transmembrane pore derived from cyclic decapeptide 2 (10
van der Waals internal diameter).[3] We therefore sought to
examine the utility of self-assembling peptide nanotubes for
size-selective transmembrane transport of glutamate ions.
Previous attenuated total reflection/Fourier transform
infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopic studies of the peptide 1
in lipid multibilayers indicated that the self-assembled trans-
membrane channel adopts an orientation of 7 Æ 18 relative to
the average plane of membrane.[7] In analogous studies for
decapeptide 2, the peptide assembly in the lipid bilayer
displayed backbone amide bands indicative of the expected
[1] a) J. Escudie, H. Ranaivonjatovo, Adv. Organomet. Chem. 1999, 44,
113; b) M. Driess, H. Grützmacher, Angew. Chem. 1996, 108, 900;
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1996, 35, 828.
[2] H. Leclercq, I. Dubois, J. Mol. Spectrosc. 1979, 76, 39.
[3] M. Izuha, S. Yamamoto, D. Saito, J. Chem. Phys. 1996, 105, 4923.
[4] W. H. Harper, E. A. Ferrall, R. K. Hilliard, S. M. Stogner, R. S. Grev,
D. J. Clouthier, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 8361.
[5] S. M. Stogner, R. S. Grev, J. Chem. Phy. 1998, 108, 5458.
[6] C. M. Ong, D. W. Stephan, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 2939.
[7] S. I. Al-Resayes, P. B. Hitchcock, J. F. Nixon, J. Chem. Soc. Chem.
Commun. 1986, 1710.
[8] J. Browning, K. R. Dixon, R. W. Hilts, Organometallics 1989, 8, 552.
[9] A. Kasani, R. McDonald, M. Ferguson, R. G. Cavell, Organometallics
1999, 18, 4241.
[10] R. P. Kamalesh Babu, R. McDonald, R. G. Cavell, Chem. Commun.
2000, 481.
[11] A. Kasani, M. Ferguson, R. G. Cavell, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122,
726.
[12] Crystal data for 2 (C64H81Ge2N4O0.5P4Si4): M 1295.75, crystal size
0.60 Â 0.45 Â 0.25 mm, a 21.030(4), b 16.453(3), c 19.919(4) ,
a 90, b 91.62(3), g 908, V 6890(2) 3, 1calcd 1.249 gcm 3, m
1.075 mm 1, Z 4, monoclinic, space group P21/c, l 0.71073 , T
293(2) K, 2qmax 488, 11179 measured reflections, 10823 independent
and 5511 observed reflections (I > 2s(I)), 697 refined parameters,
R1 0.0725, wR2 0.1843, largest diff. peak and hole 0.3833 and
3
0.696 e
.
Crystal data for 3 (C62H76N4P4Pb2Si4): M 152.89,
crystal size 0.78 Â 0.19 Â 0.17 mm, a 10.4752(14), b 44.827(6), c
14.068(2) , a 90, b 100.796(3), g 908, V 6489.0(15) 3, 1calcd
1.564 gcm 3, m 5.395 mm 1, Z 4, monoclinic, space group P21/n,
l 0.71073 , T 293(2) K, f/w scans, 2qmax 56.228, 45654 meas-
ured reflections, 15684 independent and 8598 observed reflections
(I > 2s(I)), 686 refined parameters, R1 0.0468, wR2 0.0804, largest
diff. peak and hole 1.356 and 1.686 e 3. The crystal data were
measured on an IP Rigaku diffractometer (for 2) or a Brüker SMART
CCD area detector (for 3). The structures were solved by direct
methods using SHELXS-97 and refined using SHELXL-97. Crystallo-
graphic data (excluding structure factors) for the structures reported
in this paper have been deposited with the Cambridge Crystallo-
graphic Data Centre as supplementary publication no. CCDC-160423
and 160424. Copies of the data can be obtained free of charge on
application to CCDC, 12 Union Road, Cambridge CB21EZ, UK (fax:
(44)1223-336-033; e-mail: deposit@ccdc.cam.ac.uk).
[13] K. M. Baines, W. G. Stibbs, Adv. Organomet. Chem. 1996, 39, 275.
[14] W.-P. Leung, W.-H. Kwok, F. Xue, T. C. W. Mak, J. Am. Chem. Soc.
1997, 119, 1145.
[15] W.-P. Leung, H. Cheng, R.-B. Huang, Q.-C. Yang, T. C. W. Mak,
Chem. Commun. 2000, 451.
[16] H. J. Meyer, G. Baum, W. Massa, S. Berger, A. Berndt, Angew. Chem.
1987, 99, 559; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1987, 26, 546.
[17] W.-P. Leung, W.-H. Kwok, L.-H. Weng, L. T. C. Law, Z.-Y. Zhou,
T. C. W. Mak, J. Chem. Soc. Dalton Trans. 1997, 4301.
Â
[*] Prof. M. R. Ghadiri, Dr. J. Sanchez-Quesada, Dr. H. Sun Kim
Departments of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, and
The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology
The Scripps Research Institute
10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037 (USA)
Fax : (1)858-784-2798
[**] This work is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of
Health (Grant: GM52190).
Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW under
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2001, 40, No. 13
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