Abstract:
An approach to the design of pseudocyclic peptide epitopes is proposed: lipid tails are attached to both C- and N-termini of the peptide through hydrophilic spacers; thanks to two lipid anchors, the conjugate is inserted into the membrane at two sites simultaneously, and the peptide becomes conformation- constrained. Despite the presence of two long lipid regions, the high hydrophilicity of the spacer makes the entire structure water-soluble, which is crucial for integration into living cells.
Keywords:constrained peptide, pseudocyclic peptide, peptide epitope, SARS-CoV-2, protein S, FSL, human antibodies.