Switchable binding affinity of mannose tethered to collagen peptide by temperature-dependent triple-helix formation

Novel glycopeptides were created with a view to regulate the bindings of carbohydrates to lectins as a means of controlling biological function. We synthesized glycopeptides containing mannose (Man) tethered to a collagen peptide moiety (MPOG10: -(Pro-Hyp-Gly)10- or MGPP10: -(Gly-Pro-Pro)10-). Circular dichroism spectra showed formation of a triple helical structure for MPOG10, and the melting temperature indicates that MPOG10 forms a more stable triple helical structure than MGPP10 in phosphate buffered saline (PBS). At 25 °C, fluorescence polarization (FP) values of MPOG10 and MGPP10 increased following the addition of concanavalin A (ConA), and the addition of α-methyl-mannose (MeMan) to a mixed solution of each glycopeptide with ConA resulted in a decrease in FP values. These results confirm that the previous increase in FP values observed was caused by ConA binding to Man on MPOG10 or MGPP10. The binding affinity of MPOG10 was higher than that of MGPP10, and the dissociation constant of MPOG10 to ConA was 1.9 × 10(-5) (mol/L). The observed binding of MPOG10 to ConA at 25 °C was reduced at higher temperature (50 °C). Therefore, the enhanced binding affinity of MPOG10 to ConA could be accounted for by formation of a clustered Man moiety triggered by the formation of a more stable triple helical structure of MPOG10 compared with MGPP10.