Empirical calculations on cyclic dipeptides. Conformations of aspartic acid, glutamic acid and histidine residues

Empirical conformational energy calculations were carried out for the dipeptides cyclo-(L-Asp-L-His) and cyclo-(L-Glu-L-His). The side chain conformations have been studied for various DKP ring structures, demonstrating that distortions can modify the stability of some conformations by favouring peptide backbone-side chain or side chain-side chain interactions. The carboxylic side chain of Asp and Glu residues can induce specific interactions with the imidazole ring or the peptide bond of the DKP ring which are not found for Ser or Thr. The necessity of including solute--solvent interactions to account for a more realistic conformational behaviour is discussed.