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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Formation of Ordered Biomolecular Structures by the Self-assembly of Short Peptides
Published on: November 21, 2013
Distinctive circular dichroism signature for 14-helix-bundle formation by beta-peptides
William C Pomerantz1, Tami L R Grygiel, Jonathan R Lai
1Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Abstract:
We identify a distinctive circular dichroism (CD) signature for self-assembled 14-helical beta-peptides. Our data show that self-assembly leads to a mimimum at 205 nm, which is distinct from the well-known minimum at 214 nm for a monomeric 14-helix. The onset of assembly is indicated by [theta]205/[theta]214>0.7. Our results will facilitate rapid screening for self-assembling beta-peptides and raise the possibility that far-UV CD will be useful for detecting higher-order structure for other well-folded oligoamide backbones.
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