Biophysical Properties of Membrane-Active Peptides Based on Micelle Modeling: A Case Study of Cell-Penetrating and Antimicrobial Peptides

We investigated the molecular mechanisms of short peptides interacting with membrane-mimetic systems. Three short peptides were selected for this study: penetratin as a cell-penetrating peptide (CPP), and temporin A and KSL as antimicrobial peptides (AMP). We investigated the detailed interactions of the peptides with dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelles, and the subsequent peptide insertion based on free energy calculations by using all-atomistic molecular dynamics simulations with the united atom force field and explicit solvent models. First, we found that the free energy barrier to insertion for the three peptides is dependent on the chemical composition of the micelles. Because of the favorable electrostatic interactions between the peptides and the headgroups of lipids, the insertion barrier into an SDS micelle is less than a DPC micelle. Second, the peptides' secondary structures may play a key role in their binding and insertion ability, particularly for amphiphilic peptides such as penetratin and KSL. The secondary structures with a stronger ability to bind with and insert into micelles are the ones that account for a smaller surface area of hydrophobic core, thus offering a possible criterion for peptide design with specific functionalities.