Folding of β-sheets in membranes: specificity and promiscuity in peptide model systems

The interactions that drive the folding of β-barrel membrane proteins have not been well studied because there have been few available model systems for membrane β-sheets. In this work, we expand on a recently described model system to explore the contributions of interstrand hydrogen bonds, side-chain/side-chain interactions and side-chain/membrane interactions to β-sheet formation in membranes. These experiments are based on the observation that the hydrophobic hexapeptide acetyl-Trp-Leu-Leu-Leu-Leu-Leu-OH (AcWLLLLL) folds, cooperatively and reversibly, into oligomeric, antiparallel β-sheets in phosphatidylcholine membranes. To systematically characterize the important interactions that drive β-sheet formation in membranes, we have used circular dichroism spectroscopy to determine the membrane secondary structure of each member of a complete host-guest family of related peptides of the form AcWLL-X-LL, where X is one of the natural amino acids. Peptides with hydrophobic X-residues of any size or character (X = Ala, Val, Ile, Leu, Cys, Met, Phe and Trp) form similar β-sheets in membranes, while peptides with any polar X-residue or Gly or Pro at the X-position are random-coils, even when bound to membranes at high concentrations. The observed membrane sheet preferences correlate poorly with intrinsic sheet propensity scales measured in soluble proteins, but they correlate well with several membrane hydrophobicity scales. These results support the idea that the predominant interactions of the side-chains in membrane-bound β-sheets are with the membrane lipids, and that backbone hydrogen bonding is the major driving force for the stabilization of β-sheets in membranes.