Design of histidine-Zn2+ binding sites within a β-hairpin peptide: enhancement of β-sheet stability through metal complexation

Abstract

We describe the design and characterisation of two simple ‘metalloproteins’ based on Zn²⁺ co-ordination sites involving histidine residues close to the N- and C-termini of two β-hairpin peptides (His₂-β, KHYTVSINGKKITVHI and His₃-β, HKHYTV-SINGKKITVHI); we show by NMR and circular dichroism spectroscopy that Zn²⁺ complexation co-operatively enhances the stability of these partially pre-organised β-sheet peptides.