A classical molecular dynamics investigation of the free energy and structure of short polyproline conformers

Folded polyproline peptides can exist as either left-(PPII) or right-handed (PPI) helices, depending on their environment. In this work, we have characterized the conformations and the free energy landscapes of Ace-(Pro)(n)-Nme, n=2,3, ... ,9, and 13 peptides both in vacuo and in an implicit solvent environment. In order to enhance the sampling provided by regular molecular dynamics simulations, we have used the recently developed adaptively biased molecular dynamics method--which provides an accurate description of the free energy landscapes in terms of a set of relevant collective variables--combined with Hamiltonian and temperature replica exchange molecular dynamics methods. The collective variables, which are chosen so as to reflect the stable structures and the "slow modes" of the polyproline system, were based primarily on properties of length and of the cis/trans isomerization associated with the prolyl bonds. Results indicate that the space of peptide structures is characterized not just by pure PPII and PPI structures, but rather by a broad distribution of stable minima with similar free energies. These results are in agreement with recent experimental work. In addition, we have used steered molecular dynamics methods in order to quantitatively estimate the free energy difference of PPI and PPII for peptides of the length n=2, ... ,5 in vacuo and implicit water and qualitatively investigate transition pathways and mechanisms for the PPII to PPI transitions. A zipper-like mechanism, starting from either the center of the peptide or the amidated end, appear to be the most likely mechanisms for the PPII→PPI transition for the longer peptides.