THE IMPORTANCE OF EXTENDED CONFORMATIONS AND, IN PARTICULAR, THE P-II CONFORMATION FOR THE MOLECULAR RECOGNITION OF PEPTIDES

Crystallographic, isotopic labeling nmr and transferred nuclear Overhauser effect studies have highlighted the extended conformation as a very important element of secondary structure at the binding site of many peptide/protein complexes including peptide inhibitors-enzymes, B-cell epitopes-antibodies, and T-cell epitopes-major histocompatibility complex (MHC) of class I and II complexes. This paper discusses the peptide ligand conformation consequences of these findings particularly in view of the identification of the P-II conformation (left-handed extended polypyroline II) in free solution. (C) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.