Coarse-grained, foldable, physical model of the polypeptide chain.

ABSTRACT: Although nonflexible, scaled molecular models like Pauling-Corey's and its descendants have made significant contributions in structural biology research and pedagogy, recent technical advances in 3D printing and electronics make it possible to go one step further in designing physical models of biomacromolecules: to make them conformationally dynamic. We report here the design, construction, and validation of a flexible, scaled, physical model of the polypeptide chain, which accurately reproduces the bond rotational degrees of freedom in the peptide backbone. The coarse-grained backbone model consists of repeating amide and α-carbon units, connected by mechanical bonds (corresponding to ϕ and ψ) that include realistic barriers to rotation that closely approximate those found at the molecu

SUBMITTER: Chakraborty P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3746904 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature