Recognition of alpha-helical peptide structures using high-performance liquid chromatographic retention data for D-amino acid analogues: influence of peptide amphipathicity and of stationary phase hydrophobicity.

The reversed-phase HPLC behaviour of double D-amino acid replacement sets of amphipathic and non-amphipathic helix-forming peptides consisting exclusively of leucine, lysine and alanine residues was studied on different polymer-encapsulated silica-based stationary phases. Plotting the retention times versus the position of D-amino acid substitution gives a characteristic pattern showing decreased retention times in the helical region. The retention time profile obtained using an amphipathic alpha-helix is caused by disturbance of the preferred binding domain of the stationary phase-bound peptide. However, the effect is similar but less pronounced using a non-amphipathic helical peptide that is unable to interact by a preferred binding site. The results demonstrate that reversed-phase HPLC data for peptide analogues provide an indication event of a non-amphipathic helical structure in peptides.