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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Formation of Ordered Biomolecular Structures by the Self-assembly of Short Peptides
Published on: November 21, 2013
Spectroscopic evidence for the formation of helical structures in gas-phase short peptide chains
Valérie Brenner1, François Piuzzi, Iliana Dimicoli
1Laboratoire Francis Perrin, URA CEA-CNRS 2453, Service des Photons, Atomes et Molécules, CEA Saclay, bât 522, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.
Abstract:
Aminoisobutyric acid (Aib) is a synthetic amino acid known to favor the formation of 3(10) helical structures in condensed phases, namely, crystals. The intrinsic character of these helicogenic properties has been investigated on the Ac-Aib-Phe-Aib-NH2 molecule under isolated conditions, namely, in the gas phase, both experimentally by double-resonance IR/UV spectroscopy and theoretically by quantum chemistry. A convergent set of evidence, based on energetic, IR, and UV spectroscopic data as well as on analogies with the similar peptide Ac-Ala-Phe-Ala-NH2 previously studied, enables us to conclude the formation of an incipient 310 helix in these isolated systems.
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