Evaluation of the molecular interactions of fluorinated amino acids with native polypepticles

One fluorine can make a difference. Investigation of the properties of fluorinated amino acids in a native-polypeptide environment increases our ability to use this class of non-natural amino acids for protein engineering. Two fluorinated amino acids (see figure) were incorporated into different positions of a heptad repeat motif, and their influence on coiled-coil peptide formation was studied. The screens introduced here are sufficiently sensitive to even detect the difference of one single fluorine atom in the side chain of an amino acid.