The role of β-hairpin conformation in ester hydrolysis peptide catalysts based on a TrpZip scaffold

To explore the role of peptide conformation on catalytic activity in the context of ester hydrolysis catalysts, pairs of sequences were designed that contained or lacked β-hairpin character. For the hydrolysis of para -nitrophenylacetate in aqueous media, we found small but consistent trends wherein His-containing sequences based on a TrpZip scaffold showed higher catalytic activity without β-hairpin character. Peptide catalysts based on TrpZip scaffolds for the hydrolysis of para -nitrophenylacetate in aqueous media were found to have higher catalytic activity in sequences without β -hairpin character.