Helix-coli transition of poly- -benzyl-L- -aminoadipate and poly-L- -aminoadipic acid in solution

Thermal unfolding of helices of a C-peptide analogue of ribonuclease A in sodium dodecyl sulfate solution

The conformation of a 13-residue C-peptide analogue of ribonuclease A, suc-AET-AAAKFLRAHA-CONH2, in NaDodSO4 solutions with respect to temperature was studied with CD. The equilibrium constant of unfolding yielded a straight line in a van't Hoff plot. In 10 mM NaDodSO4, delta G mu = 120 cal/mol, delta H mu = 700 cal/mol, and delta S mu = 2.0 entropy units all on per helical residue. These values compared fairly well with the thermodynamic parameters of the uncharged helix-coil transition of (Glu)n in 0.1 M NaCl based on the theories of Zimm and Bragg and Zimm and Rice. The peptide was not unfolded at 75 degrees C completely. Even in water without surfactant it was not a "random coil."

Adsorption of an ionic homopolypeptide to a flat surface induced by pH change

This paper presents a model for pH-dependent adsorption of an ionic homopolypeptide with secondary structure on a flat surface. This model is developed by generalization of a discrete model of semistiff chain with short-range interaction, between homopolypeptide chain and surface. The presence of intramolecular repulsive interaction as well as secondary structure is introduced here by modified Zimm-Bragg stabilization parameters. The model predicts that in the case of low degree of ionization, the adsorption behaviour of an ionic and non-ionic homopolypeptide are qualitatively similar (i.e. both show a second-order phase-transition, characteristic of this phenomenon). We also illustrate the prediction of the model about the critical absorption energy in the case of selective interaction, and show that a discontinuity in the melting-temperature behaviour appears when the pH is tuned to a critical pH value (pHc).