Spontaneous degradation of polypeptides at aspartyl and asparaginyl residues: effects of the solvent dielectric.

We have investigated the spontaneous degradation of aspartate and asparagine residues via succinimide intermediates in model peptides in organic co-solvents. We find that the rate of deamidation at asparagine residues is markedly reduced in solvents of low dielectric strength. Theoretical considerations suggest that this decrease in rate is due to the destabilization of the deprotonated peptide bond nitrogen anion that is the postulated attacking species in succinimide formation. This result suggests that asparagine residues in regions with low dielectric constants, such as the interior of a protein or in a membrane bilayer, are protected from this type of degradation reaction. On the other hand, we found little or no effect on the rate of succinimide-mediated isomerization of aspartate residues when subjected to the same changes in dielectric constant. In this case, the destabilization of the attacking peptide bond nitrogen anion may be balanced by increased protonation of the aspartyl side chain carboxyl group, a reaction that results in a superior leaving group. Consequently, any protein structure or conformation that would increase the protonation of an aspartate side chain carboxyl group can be expected to render that residue more labile. These results may help explain why particular aspartate residues have been found to degrade in proteins at rates comparable to those of asparagine residues, even though aspartyl-containing peptides degrade more slowly than corresponding asparaginyl-containing peptides in aqueous solutions.