An Unusual Heparin-Binding Peptide from the Carboxy-Terminal hep-2 Region of Fibronectin

A synthetic 22 residue peptide, N22W, with sequence NVSPPRRARVTDATETTITISW, derived from the amino terminus of type III module 13 in the carboxyterminal hep-2 domain of fibronectin, was found to exhibit unusual heparin binding properties. Titration of fluoresceinamine-labeled heparin (FA-heparin) with N22W at 25°C and pH 7.4 in 0.02 M Tris buffer containing 0.15 M NaCl (TBS) produced a cooperative sigmoidal increase in fluorescence polarization anisotropy with half-saturation near 2.5 μM. The increase in anisotropy was even greater than that produced by the much larger 30-kDa hep-2 fragment of fibronectin and saturation was achieved at lower concentration. Simply deleting the C-terminal Trp from the peptide abolished its heparin-binding activity as did deletion of residues TETTITIS or mutation of the RR doublet to SS. Further analysis suggested that peptide-peptide interactions mediated by the carboxy-terminal region of N22W play an important role in its binding to heparin. A branched tetrameric peptide containing four copies of N21S caused a nearly hyperbolic increase in anisotropy of FA-heparin with an apparent Kd of 0.3 μM in TBS, 10-fold lower than that of the monomer or of the parent domain from which the peptide was derived. The results illustrate that peptide-peptide interactions can lead to stronger binding by allowing multiple points of contact with the negatively charged polysaccharide.