Related papers: Helix Formation and Folding in an Artificial Pepti…
While all the information required for the folding of a protein is contained in its amino acid sequence, one has not yet learned how to extract this information to predict the three--dimensional, biologically active, native conformation of…
We perform a generalized-ensemble simulation of a small peptide taking the interactions among all atoms into account. From this simulation we obtain thermodynamic quantities over a wide range of temperatures. In particular, we show that the…
Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study structure formation in simple model polymer chains that are subject to excluded volume and torsional interactions. The changing conformations exhibited by chains of different lengths under…
The polyalanine-based peptide series Ac-Ala_n-LysH+ (n=5-20) is a prime example that a secondary structure motif which is well-known from the solution phase (here: helices) can be formed in vacuo. We here revisit this conclusion for…
The anchor of most integral membrane proteins consists of one or several helices spanning the lipid bilayer. The WALP peptide, GWW(LA)$_n$(L)WWA, is a common model helix to study the fundamentals of protein insertion and folding, as well as…
We study the folding dynamics of polyalanine (Ala$_{20}$), a protein fragment with 20 residues whose native state is a single alpha helix. We use the CSAW model (conditioned self-avoiding walk), which treats the protein molecule as a chain…
Self-assembly of polypeptides into fibrillar structures can be initiated by planar surfaces that interact favorably with certain residues. Using a coarse grained model, we systematically studied the folding and adsorption behavior of a…
We have used scanning probe microscopy to investigate self-assembled monolayers of chemically synthesized peptides. We find that the peptides form a dense uniform monolayer, above which is found a sparse additional layer. Using scanning…
Two proteins, one belonging to the mainly alpha class and the other belonging to the alpha/beta class, are selected to test a kinetic mechanism for protein folding. Targeted molecular dynamics is applied to generate folding pathways for…
Two-state cooperativity is an important characteristic in protein folding. It is defined by a depletion of states lying energetically between folded and unfolded conformations. While there are different ways to test for two-state…
We have performed multicanonical Monte Carlo simulations of C-peptide of ribonuclease A. It is known by CD and NMR experiments that this peptide has high alpha-helix content in aqueous solution and that the side-chain charges of residues…
A minimal off-lattice model for alpha-helical proteins is presented. It is based on hydrophobicity forces and sequence independent local interactions. The latter are chosen so as to favor the formation of alpha-helical structure. They model…
In this paper we suggest a theoretical method based on the statistical mechanics for treating the alpha-helix-random coil transition in alanine polypeptides. We consider this process as a first-order phase transition and develop a theory…
The conformation and the phase diagram of a membrane protein are investigated via grand canonical ensemble approach using a homopolymer model. We discuss the nature and pathway of $\alpha$-helix integration into the membrane that results…
We have performed exhaustive multicanonical Monte Carlo simulations of three 12-residue synthetic peptides in order to investigate the thermodynamic and structural properties as well as the characteristic helix-coil transitions. In these…
We study the conversion of bulk Se and Te, consisting of intertwined a helices, to structurally very dissimilar, atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) layers of these elements. Our ab initio calculations reveal that previously unknown and…
The helix-coil transition is modified by grafting to a surface. This modification is studied for short peptides capable of forming $\alpha$-helices. Three factors are involved: (i) the grafting can induced change of the boundary free energy…
The authors study the short-time dynamics of helix-forming polypeptide chains using an all-atom representation of the molecules and an implicit solvation model to approximate the interaction with the surrounding solvent. The results confirm…
We report on self-assembly, clustering, and conformational phases of peptides on inorganic semiconductor surfaces. The peptide-covered surface fraction can differ by a factor of 25, depending mainly on surface and peptide polarity. Low…
Mechanical stretching of secondary structures is studied through molecular dynamics simulations of a Go-like model. Force vs. displacement curves are studied as a function of the stiffness and velocity of the pulling device. The succession…