Publication Date:
1988-06-17
Description:
The alpha helix, first proposed by Pauling and co-workers, is a hallmark of protein structure, and much effort has been directed toward understanding which sequences can form helices. The helix hypothesis, introduced here, provides a tentative answer to this question. The hypothesis states that a necessary condition for helix formation is the presence of residues flanking the helix termini whose side chains can form hydrogen bonds with the initial four-helix greater than N-H groups and final four-helix greater than C-O groups; these eight groups would otherwise lack intrahelical partners. This simple hypothesis implies the existence of a stereochemical code in which certain sequences have the hydrogen-bonding capacity to function as helix boundaries and thereby enable the helix to form autonomously. The three-dimensional structure of a protein is a consequence of the genetic code, but the rules relating sequence to structure are still unknown. The ensuing analysis supports the idea that a stereochemical code for the alpha helix resides in its boundary residues.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Presta, L G -- Rose, G D -- AG 06084/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- GM 29458/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1988 Jun 17;240(4859):1632-41.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biological Chemistry, Hershey Medical Center, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey 17033.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2837824" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Amino Acid Sequence
;
Animals
;
Carboxypeptidases
;
Carboxypeptidases A
;
Cytochrome c Group
;
Flavodoxin
;
Humans
;
Hydrogen Bonding
;
Models, Chemical
;
Molecular Sequence Data
;
Muramidase
;
Myoglobin
;
Pancreatic Polypeptide
;
Parvalbumins
;
Plastocyanin
;
*Protein Conformation
;
Ribonucleases
;
Scorpion Venoms
;
Tetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase
;
Triose-Phosphate Isomerase
;
Trypsin Inhibitors
;
X-Ray Diffraction
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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