Inhibition of oligo(glutamine) precipitation by glutamine-containing peptides

When a solution of glutamine is added to solid 1,1'-carbonyldiimidazole, a mixture of oligo(glutamine)s up to about the 11-mer is formed rapidly. On standing overnight, the solution deposits a precipitate that does not easily redissolve. We have studied the inhibition of this precipitation by glutamine-containing peptides. We find that the alternating peptides (arg.gln)(4) and (arg.gln)(8) are efficient inhibitors of precipitation while arg(5), (glu.gln)(4), and a nonalternating octapeptide of the same composition as (arg.gln)(4) do not inhibit precipitation even though all the arg-containing peptides readily adsorb to oligo(glutamine) precipitates. A possible structural basis for this difference is discussed.