Insight into the Packing Pattern of β<sub>2</sub> Fibrils: A Model Study of Glutamic Acid Rich Oligomers with <sup>13</sup>C Isotopic Edited Vibrational Spectroscopy
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Abstract
Polyglutamic acid at low pH forms
aggregates and self-assembles
into a spiral, fibril-like superstructure formed as a β<sub>2</sub>-type sheet conformation that has a more compact intersheet
packing than commonly found. This is stabilized by three-centered
bifurcated hydrogen bonding of the amide carbonyl involving the protonated
glutamic acid side chain. We report vibrational spectroscopic results
and analyses for oligopeptides rich in glutamic acid enhanced with <sup>13</sup>C isotope labeling in a study modeling low pH poly-Glu self-assembly.
Our results indicate bifurcated H-bonding and β<sub>2</sub> aggregation
can be attained in these model decamers, confirming they have the
same conformations as poly-Glu. We also prepared conventional β<sub>1</sub>-sheet aggregates by rapid precipitation from the residual
peptides in the higher pH supernatant. By comparing the isotope-enhanced
IR and VCD spectra with theoretical predictions, we deduced that the
oligo-Glu β<sub>2</sub> structure is based on stacked, twisted,
antiparallel β-sheets. The best fit to theoretical predictions
was obtained for the strands being out of register, sequentially stepped
by one residue, in a ladder-like fashion. The alternate β<sub>1</sub> conformer for this oligopeptide was similarly shown to be
antiparallel but was less ordered and apparently had a different registry
in its aggregate structure