MEMBRANE INTERACTION OF SMALL N-MYRISTOYLATED PEPTIDES - IMPLICATIONS FOR MEMBRANE ANCHORING AND PROTEIN-PROTEIN ASSOCIATION

The effect of the covalent attachment of a myristoyl moiety to the N-terminal glycine residue in proteins, N-myristoylation, on lipid-protein interactions was investigated in a model system using magnetic resonance spectroscopic methods. Two peptides with sequences conserved among known N-myristoylated proteins were chosen for this study. Using two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance techniques, it was shown that N-myristoylation results in an aggregation of both peptides in solution, although they lack well defined folded conformations in solution either when chemically N-myristoylated or when nonacylated. The interaction of the acylated peptides with lipid bilayers was investigated using spin label electron spin resonance and H-2 NMR techniques. The results show that when bound to membranes, the covalently linked myristoyl chain of one of the peptides is directly inserted into or anchored to the lipid bilayer. The binding of the other peptide with membranes is effected by interactions between amino acid residues and the phospholipid headgroups. In this case, the covalently linked myristoyl moiety is most likely not in direct contact with the acyl chains of the host lipid bilayer. Rather, the N-myristoyl chains stabilize the peptide aggregate by forming a hydrophobic core. Measurements of peptide binding to membranes showed that N-myristoylation affects both the lipid:peptide stoichiometry at saturation and the equilibrium binding constant, in a manner that is consistent with the structural information obtained by magnetic resonance methods.