Role of peptide structure in lipid-peptide interactions: nuclear magnetic resonance study of the interaction of pentagastrin and [Arg4]pentagastrin with dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine.

Complexes formed between dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) and the peptide pentagastrin or [Arg4]pentagastrin were examined by 31P- and 2H-NMR. The cationic [Arg4]pentagastrin produces larger changes in the lipid NMR spectra than does the anionic pentagastrin. 31P-NMR spectra of DMPC with [Arg4]pentagastrin below the phase transition exhibits two components one of which is motionally restricted compared with the pure lipid. The exchange between these two lipid domains is slow on the millisecond time scale. The interactions between this peptide and phospholipid are diminished above the melting temperature of the complex. The 2H-NMR spectra of DMPC which had been labelled in a choline methylene group is also affected more by the [Arg4]pentagastrin than by pentagastrin. In the presence of [Arg4]pentagastrin, even above the lipid phase transition, an additional doublet with a smaller quadrupole splitting is observed. These results clearly demonstrate the importance of peptide charge in determining the effects of peptides on lipid bilayers.