Academic literature on the topic 'Structure and Dynamics of Peptides by NMR Spectroscopy'

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemistry, 2011.<br>Vita. Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references.<br>Amyloid fibrils are insoluble, non-crystalline protein filaments associated with a number of diseases such as Alzheimer's and Type Il diabetes. They can have a functional role in different organisms and many proteins and peptides have been found to form amyloid fibrils in vitro. We have used magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy to investigate the structure of two amyloid fibril systems - an 11- residue segment from the disease-related protein transthyretin (TTR); and P2- microglobulin (32m), a 99-residue protein associated with dialysis-related amyloidosis. The TTR(105-115) case exemplifies our efforts to characterize the hierarchy of structures present in the fibril form, including the organization of the Pstrands into P-sheets (tertiary structure), the P-sheet interface that defines each protofilament (quaternary structure), and the protofilament-to-protofilament contacts that lead to the formation of the complete fibril. Our efforts were guided by information obtained from other methods such as cryo-electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, and resulted in the very first atomic resolution structure of a complete amyloid fibril. We have extended the methods used in the TTR(105-115) structure determination procedure to the fibrils formed by 2m, a process complicated not only by the much larger size of the protein involved but also by the high degree of dynamics exhibited in these fibrils. Nevertheless, we were able to characterize the secondary structure of the protein in the fibril form, and the tertiary and quaternary interactions within the fibrils. In addition, we have compared at the molecular level @2m fibrils formed under different conditions, in an effort to characterize the origins of fibril polymorphism for this protein sequence. Our work on amyloid fibrils has also benefited extensively from the development of dynamic nuclear polarization, a method used to enhance the sensitivity of MAS NMR experiments, leading to unprecedented gains in signal-to-noise ratios and acquisition times.<br>by Galia Tzvetanova Debelouchina.<br>Ph.D.

The main focus of this thesis is on the ring conformations of carbohydrate molecules; how the conformational equilibria and the rates of the associated interconversions are affected by the molecular constitution and their surroundings. The conformational equilibria of a group of amine linked pseudodisaccharides, designed as potential glycosidase inhibitors, comprising α-D-altrosides are described in Chapter 3. The OS2 conformation was largely populated, and the ring conformation was found to depend on the charge of the amine functionality. The conformations of β-D-xylopyranoside derivatives with naphthyl-based aglycones, which are potential anti-cancer agents, are described in chapter 4. Solvent dependent flexibility was observed. Intramolecular hydrogen bonds were concluded to be involved in the stabilization of 1C4 conformers in non-hydrogen bonding solvents of low polarity. Chapter 5 describes the first measurements of the conformational exchange rates of mannuronic acid ester derivatives between the 4C1 and 1C4 conformations, through DNMR measurements. The relative reactivity of glycosyl triflates as electrophiles in glycosylation reactions were investigated with NMR-based competition experiments. In Chapter 6, investigations of ruthenium-catalyzed epimerizations of the allylic alcohols of glycal derivatives, and stereoselective synthesis of esters through a DYKAT protocol, are described. The kinetics of the epimerizations were elaborated through different NMR-spectroscopic methods. Chapter 7 describes additions of NMR chemical shift data of mono- and oligosaccharides to database of the computer program CASPER, and applications thereof.<br><p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Submitted. Paper 5: Manuscript.</p>