The structure of RP 71955, a new tricyclic 21 amino acid peptide active against human immunodeficiency virus 1, was determined. Its amino acid composition was inferred from the results of fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, Raman spectroscopy, and amino acid analysis. Its sequence could not be determined classically, using Edman degradation, given the lack of a free terminal NH2. It was deduced from the interpretation of interresidue nuclear Overhauser effects and confirmed by the sequencing of peptides obtained by limited chemical hydrolysis. It was found to be CLGIGSCNDFAGCGYAVVCFW. An internal amide bond between the NH2 of C1 and the gamma-COOH of D9 was observed, as well as two disulfide bridges, one between C1 and C13 and one between C7 and C19. The three-dimensional structure of RP 71955 was determined from nuclear magnetic resonance derived constraints using distance geometry, restrained molecular dynamics, nuclear Overhauser effect back calculation, and an iterative refinement using a full relaxation matrix approach. Analogies between the structure of RP 71955 and some functional domains of gp41, the transmembrane protein of human immunodeficiency virus 1, suggest hypotheses concerning the mode of action of RP 71955.

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The tridecapeptide neurotensine has been the subject of increased interest since its discovery and characterization in the brain1). Aspects of its pharmacology include physiological effects both in the periphery and the central nervous system2). In order to elucidate further its pathophysiological role, neurotensin agonists and antagonists are needed.In the course of our screening program to find substances that displace the neurotensin from its receptor, a receptor binding assay using guinea-pig brain membranes was performed according to GOEDERT et al.3

Dinucleoside monophosphates are used here as models for studying sequence dependence of the hypochromic effect correlated with base stacking. It was shown that once the contribution due to the temperature dependent hydration change of the bases is substracted from the thermal perturbation difference spectra of dinucleoside monophosphates, the absorbance change of the dimer only due to unstacking of the bases could be obtained. In order to be able to use these corrected thermal perturbation difference spectra as models for studying nearest neighbour interactions in nucleic acids, it was necessary to normalize them to 100% unstacking of the bases. To perform this normalization, apparent thermodynamic parameters were extracted from the corrected transition curves by means of the two-state model.

A new strategy for the assignment of nonexchangeable proton resonances in oligonucleotide duplexes is presented and used to interpret the spectra of the oligonucleotide helix d(CpGpCpGpCpG) X d(CpGpCpGpCpG) in low salt (B form). This procedure is based on the use of sequential homodecoupling (1D) or COSY (2D) for the interconnection of the sugar resonances pertaining to the same residue and on the measurement of nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) (1D or 2D) between critically located protons in order to establish the connectivity between the base protons and the sugar protons, as well as between consecutive base-sugar residues. The assignment performed by this method was found in perfect agreement with the one made previously by the incremental procedure [Cheng, D. M., Kan, L.-S., Frechet, D., Ts'o, P. O. P., Uesugi, S., Shida, T., & Ikehara, M. (1983) Biopolymers (in press)]. Also, this method is demonstrated to be applicable to DNA short helices containing A X T base pairs.