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1: Biochemistry. 2008 Apr 8;47(14):4189-95. Epub 2008 Mar 13.Click here to read Links

Trapping a folding intermediate of the alpha-helix: stabilization of the pi-helix.

Chapman R, Kulp JL 3rd, Patgiri A, Kallenbach NR, Bracken C, Arora PS.

Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, New York 10003, USA.

We report the design, synthesis, and characterization of a short peptide trapped in a pi-helix configuration. This high-energy conformation was nucleated by a preorganized pi-turn, which was obtained by replacing an N-terminal intramolecular main chain i and i + 5 hydrogen bond with a carbon-carbon bond. Our studies highlight the nucleation parameter as a key factor contributing to the relative instability of the pi-helix and allow us to estimate fundamental helix-coil transition parameters for this conformation.

PMID: 18335996 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]