Polyproline, beta-turn helices. Novel secondary structures proposed for the tandem repeats within rhodopsin, synaptophysin, synexin, gliadin, RNA polymerase II, hordein, and gluten.

Seven proteins each contain 8 to 52 tandem repeats of a unique class of oligopeptide. The consensus peptide for each is rhodopsin Tyr Pro Pro Gln Gly synaptophysin Tyr Gly Pro Gln Gly synexin Tyr Pro Pro Pro Pro Gly gliadin Tyr Pro Pro Pro Gln Pro RNA polymerase II Tyr Ser Pro Thr Ser Pro Ser hordein Phe Pro Gln Gln Pro Gln Gln Pro gluten Tyr Pro Thr Ser Pro Gln Gln Gly Tyr Although there is obvious variation of sequence and of length, the penta- to nonapeptides share an initial Tyr (or Phe) and have high Pro contents and abundant Gly, Gln, and Ser. We have evaluated helical models that both recognize the uniqueness of these sequence repeats and accommodate variations on the basic theme. We have developed a group of related helical models for these proteins with about three oligopeptide repeats per turn of 10-20 A. These models share several common features: Most of the phi dihedral angles are -54 degrees, to accommodate Pro at all positions except the first (Tyr). Except for the beta-turns, most psi dihedral angles are near +140 degrees as found in polyproline. Each oligopeptide has at least one beta-turn; several have two. Some contain a cis-Tyr, Pro peptide bond; a few have a cis-bond plus one beta-turn. Tyr side chains vary from totally exposed to buried within the helices and could move to accommodate either external hydrophobic interactions or phosphorylation. The several related structures seem to be readily interconverted without major change in the overall helical parameters, and therein may lie the key to their functions.