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Peptide Foldamers: From Spectroscopic Studies to Applications

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Book cover Reviews in Fluorescence 2008

Part of the book series: Reviews in Fluorescence 2008 ((RFLU,volume 2008))

Abstract

Peptide foldamers are synthetic oligopeptides which attain a few, specific, constrained conformations in solution. Here, we review our contributions to the study of the structural features of several foldamers, comprising Cα-tetrasubstituted aminoacids, by spectroscopic techniques and, in particular, by a combined approach employing time-resolved energy transfer (FRET) experiments and molecular modeling to determine interprobe distances and orientations. Our data show that, for rigid systems, the commonly used assumption of random orientation of donor and acceptor is unjustified, and that in these cases a correct evaluation of the orientation factor is mandatory for meaningful structural determinations. Finally, we illustrate some applications of peptide foldamers in studies on the kinetics of protein folding and on the realization of peptide-based molecular devices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche, Università di Roma Tor Vergata, 00133, Rome, Italy

    Lorenzo Stella

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche, Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy

    Gianfranco Bocchinfuso, Emanuela Gatto, Claudia Mazzuca, Mariano Venanzi, Claudio Toniolo, Antonio Palleschi & Basilio Pispisa

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy

    Fernando Formaggio

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  1. Lorenzo Stella
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  2. Gianfranco Bocchinfuso
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  3. Emanuela Gatto
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  4. Claudia Mazzuca
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  5. Mariano Venanzi
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  6. Fernando Formaggio
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  7. Claudio Toniolo
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  8. Antonio Palleschi
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  9. Basilio Pispisa
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Correspondence to Lorenzo Stella .

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  1. Institute of Fluorescence, University of Maryland, 701 E. Pratt St., Suites 3017-21, Baltimore, MD, 21202, USA

    Chris D. Geddes

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Stella, L. et al. (2010). Peptide Foldamers: From Spectroscopic Studies to Applications. In: Geddes, C.D. (eds) Reviews in Fluorescence 2008. Reviews in Fluorescence 2008, vol 2008. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1260-2_17

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