The helical alanine controversy: an (Ala)6 insertion dramatically increases helicity

Jasper C Lin1, Bipasha Barua, Niels H Andersen

  • 1Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.

Summary

Multiple alanine insertions stabilize the Trp-cage miniprotein by enhancing its alpha-helix structure. This unique helix-stabilizing effect of alanine provides a new method for calculating its propagation value.

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