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Published September 3, 1997 | public
Journal Article

A pH Dependent Coil-to-Sheet Transition in a Periodic Artificial Protein Adsorbed at the Air-Water Interface

Abstract

External infrared reflectance spectroscopy allows in situ determination of the conformational state of a periodic artificial protein adsorbed at the air−water interface. The protein, which consists of 36 copies of an octapeptide sequence [(AG)_3EG] constituted from alanine (A), glycine (G), and glutamic acid (E), adopts a random coil conformation in aqueous solution over a broad range of pH (5 < pH < 14). In contrast, the adsorbed chain undergoes a transition from a disordered (coil-like) state to a β-sheet conformation as the pH of the subphase is reduced. The conformational transition is offset by ca. 4 pH units from the titration curve of the polymer in aqueous solution, suggesting that the ionization behavior of the polymer is substantially perturbed by interfacial effects. In situ determination of the conformation of the adsorbed chain allows observation of a coil-to-sheet transition that is not observed in bulk solution.

Additional Information

Copyright © 1997 American Chemical Society. Received February 25, 1997; Revised June 26, 1997. This work was supported by a grant from the Polymers and Genetics Program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and by the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Massachusetts.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 19, 2023