Crabrolin, a natural antimicrobial peptide: structural properties

A joint application of experimental and computational approaches has revealed the exceptionally high attitude of crabrolin, a 13-residue peptide with sequence FLPLILRKIVTAL-NH₂ , to adopt alpha-helix conformation not only in membrane-mimicking solvents but also in the presence of a not negligible amount of water. Our study shows that this propensity essentially resides in the intrinsic thermodynamic stability of alpha-helix conformation whose kinetic stability is drastically reduced in water solvent. Our analysis suggests that this is due to two effects enhanced by water: a more local effect consisting of the demolition of intra-peptide H-bonds, essential for the alpha-helix formation, and a bulk - electrostatic - effect favoring conformational states more polar than alpha-helix. Copyright © 2017 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.