Abstract
Internally quenched fluorogenic (IQF) peptides bearing the fluorescence donor/acceptor pair o-aminobenzoic acid (Abz)/N-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)ethylenediamine (EDDnp) at N- and C-terminal ends were synthesized containing heparin-binding sites from the human serpins kallistatin and antithrombin, as well as consensus heparin-binding sequences (Cardin clusters). The dissociation constant (K(d)), as well as the stoichiometry for the heparin-peptide complexes, was determined directly by measuring the decrease in fluorescence of the peptide solution. Experimental procedures were as sensitive as those used to follow the fluorescence change of tryptophan in heparin-binding proteins. The conformation of the peptides and the heparin-peptide complexes were obtained from measurements of time-resolved fluorescence decay and CD spectra. Kallistatin (Arg(300)-Pro(319))-derived peptide (HC2) and one derived from antithrombin III helix D [(AT3D), corresponding to Ser(112)-Lys(139)], which are the heparin-binding sites in these serpins, showed significant affinity for 4500 Da heparin, for which K(d) values were 17 nM and 100 nM respectively. The CD spectra of the heparin-HC2 peptide complex did not show any significant alpha-helix content, different from the situation with peptide AT3D, for which complex-formation with heparin resulted in 24% alpha-helix content. The end-to-end distance distribution and the time-resolved fluorescence-decay measurements agree with the CD spectra and K(d) values. The synthetic alpha-methyl glycoside pentasaccharide AGA*IA(M) (where A represents N,6-O-sulphated alpha-d-glucosamine; G, beta-d-glucuronic acid; A*, N,3,6-O-sulphated alpha-d-glucosamine; I, 2-O-sulphated alpha-l-iduronic acid; and A(M), alpha-methyl glycoside of A) also binds to AT3D and other consensus heparin-binding sequences, although with lower affinity. The interaction of IQF peptides with 4500 Da heparin was displaced by protamine. In conclusion, IQF peptides containing Abz/EDDnp as the donor/acceptor fluorescence pair are very promising tools for structure-activity relationship studies on heparin-peptide complexes, as well as for the development of new peptides as heparin reversal-effect compounds.