Conformational Properties of Helical Protein Polymers with Varying Densities of Chemically Reactive Groups

Protein engineering strategies have proven valuable for the production of a variety of well-defined macromolecular materials with controlled properties that have enabled their use in a range of materials and biological applications. In this work, such biosynthetic strategies have been employed in the production of monodisperse alanine-rich, helical protein polymers with the sequences [AAAQEAAAAQAAAQAEAAQAAQ](3) and [AAAQAAQAQAAAEAAAQAAQAQ](6). The composition of these protein polymers is similar to that of a previously reported family of alanine-rich protein polymers, but the density and placement of chemically reactive residues has been varied to facilitate the future use of these macromolecules in elucidating polymeric structure-function relationships in biological recognition events. Both protein polymers are readily expressed from E. coli and purified to homogeneity; characterization of their conformational behavior via circular dichroic spectroscopy (CD) indicates that they adopt highly helical conformations under a range of solution conditions. Differential scanning calorimetry, in concert with CD, demonstrates that the conformational transition from helix to coil in these macromolecules can be well-defined, with helicity, conformational transitions, T(m) values, and calorimetric enthalpies that vary with the molecular weight of the protein polymers. A combination of infrared spectroscopy and CD also reveals that the macromolecules can adopt beta-sheet structures at elevated temperatures and concentrations and that the existence and kinetics of this conformational transition appear to be related to the density of charged groups on the protein polymer.