Pressure perturbation calorimetry of helical peptides

Devin G. Barrett, C. Michael Minder, Michele U. Mian, Shelly J. Whittington, W. John Cooper, Kristin M. Fuchs, Ashutosh Tripathy, Marcey L. Waters, Trevor P. Creamer, Gary J. Pielak

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pressure perturbation calorimetry quantifies the temperature dependence of a solute's thermal expansion coefficient, providing information about solute-solvent interactions. We tested the idea that pressure perturbation calorimetry can provide information about solvent-accessible surface area by studying peptides with different secondary structures. The peptides comprised two host-guest series: one predominately an α-helix, the other predominately a polyproline II helix. In aqueous buffer, we find a correlation between the amount of secondary structure as assessed by circular dichroism spectropolarimetry and the pressure perturbation calorimetry data. We conclude that pressure perturbation calorimetry can provide information about the exposure of polar and nonpolar surface area. Data acquired in a buffered urea solution, however, are not as easily interpreted.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)322-326
Number of pages5
JournalProteins: Structure, Function and Genetics
Volume63
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2006

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Institute of General Medical SciencesR01GM072691

    Keywords

    • Circular dichroism
    • Coefficient of thermal expansion
    • Polyproline II helix
    • Pressure perturbation calorimetry
    • Secondary structure
    • α-helix

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Structural Biology
    • Biochemistry
    • Molecular Biology

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