Sequence-selective recognition of peptides within the single binding pocket of a self-assembled coordination cage.

The single binding pocket of a self-assembled Pd6L4 coordination cage recognizes oligopeptides in a highly sequence-selective fashion. In particular, the Trp-Trp-Ala sequence is strongly bound by the cavity (Ka >/=106 M-1). Tripeptides possessing the same residues but in different sequences (i.e., Trp-Ala-Trp and Ala-Trp-Trp) show much poorer affinity. Even singly mutated tripeptides with aromatic-aromatic-aliphatic sequences of the residues (e.g., Trp-Trp-Gly and Trp-Tyr-Ala) are not recognized efficiently. X-ray analysis and NMR reveal that all residues of the Trp-Trp-Ala sequence cooperatively interact with the cage via CH-pi and pi-pi interactions.