Role of peptide conformation in the rate and mechanism of deamidation of asparaginyl residues

Abstract

The tetrapeptides Val-Asn-Gly-Ala and N-acetyl-Val-Asn-Gly-Ala undergo deamidation of the asparaginyl residue at pH 7.0 at similar rates. However, they form different products. The N-acetyl peptide gave a 3:1 ratio of N-acetyl-Val-isoAsp-Gly-Ala and N-acetyl-Val-Asp-Gly-Ala, respectively. The nonacetylated peptide gave no detectable amounts of these products but rather gave a cyclic peptide formed from the nucleophilic displacement of the asparaginyl side chain amide by the amino terminus of valine. This compound was slowly inverted at carbon 2 of the asparaginyl residue. At pH values above 7.5, the nonacetylated peptide also underwent deamidation to form Val-isoAsp-Gly-Ala and Val-Asp-Gly-Ala in the 3:1 ratio. Proton NMR spectra of the acetylated and nonacetylated tetrapeptides show that below pH 7.5 they have very different preferred conformations, and it is these different conformations which result in the different mechanisms of deamidation. Above pH 9.0, both peptides have similar conformations and deamidate by the same mechanism to give equivalent products. Neither mechanism of deamidation was subject to general base catalysis by the buffer. These results suggest that deamidation rates of the asparaginyl-glycyl sequence in proteins will vary according to the conformation of the peptide backbone of each respective protein. The results also show that asparaginyl residues which are penultimate to the amino terminus can react to form an N-terminal-blocked seven-membered ring.