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The crystal structure of a hydrated gramicidin S–urea complex

Abstract

THE cyclic decapeptide antibiotic gramicidin S has the sequence

Since its isolation by Gause and Brazhnikova1, several authors have proposed possible conformations2–10. Of these models, the one that has gained most general acceptance is that of Hodgkin and Oughton2, who proposed that the structure consisted of two β-chains linked by proline residues and stabilised by four intramolecular hydrogen bonds. Several derivatives of gramicidin S have been crystallised8,11, but it had not been possible to solve any of the structures12. We now report the structure of a gramicidin S–urea complex in which the gramicidin molecule has a conformation somewhat distorted from the Hodgkin–Oughton model.

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HULL, S., KARLSSON, R., MAIN, P. et al. The crystal structure of a hydrated gramicidin S–urea complex. Nature 275, 206–207 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/275206a0

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