ISSN:
0006-3525
Keywords:
Chemistry
;
Polymer and Materials Science
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
Notes:
A mean-square helical hydrophobic moment, 〈h2〉, is defined for polypeptides in analogy to the mean-square dipole moment, 〈μ2〉, for polymer chains. For a freely jointed polymer chain, 〈μ2〉 is given by Σmi2, where mi denotes the dipole moment associated with bond i. In the absence of any correlations in the hydrophobic moments of individual amino acid residues in the helix, 〈h2〉 is specified by ΣHi2, where Hi denotes the hydrophobicity of residue i. The tendency for correlations in orientations of residue hydrophobic moments in helices therefore dictates the size of 〈h2〉/〈H2〉, where 〈H2〉 denotes the average value of ΣHi2 for all helices. The value of 〈h2〉/〈H2〉 will be greater than one in amphiphilic helices. A necessary prerequisite for this diagnostic usage of 〈h2〉/〈H2〉 is that the residue hydrophobic moment be oriented prependicular to the principal axis of the helix. Matrix-generation schemes are formulated that permit rapid evaluation of 〈h2〉 and 〈H2〉. The behavior of 〈h2〉/〈H2〉 is illustrated by calculations performed for model sequential copolypeptides.
Additional Material:
2 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bip.360230204