Monitoring the hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of amino acid side-chains in the non-polar and polar faces of amphipathic α-helices by reversed-phase and hydrophilic interaction/cation-exchange chromatography

The ability to monitor precisely the hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity effects of amino acid substitutions in both the non-polar and polar faces of amphipathic α-helical peptides is critical in such areas as the rational de novo design of more effective antimicrobial peptides. The present study reports our initial results of employing the complementary separation modes of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and hydrophilic interaction/cation-exchange chromatography (HILIC/CEX) to monitor the effect on apparent peptide hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity and amphipathicity of substituting single l- or d-amino acids into the centre of the non-polar or polar faces of a 26-residue biologically active amphipathic α-helical peptide, V681. Our results clearly show that RP-HPLC and HILIC/CEX are best suited for resolving amphipathic peptides where substitutions are made in the non-polar and polar faces, respectively. Further, RP-HPLC and HILIC/CEX were demonstrated to be excellent monitors of hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity variations where amino acid substitutions were made in these respective faces. We believe these complementary high-performance modes offer excellent potential for rational design of novel amphipathic α-helical biologically active peptides.