DSHIFT is a web server for predicting chemical shifts of DNA sequences in random coil form or double helical B-form. The prediction methods are based on sets of published reference chemical shift values and correction factors which account for shielding or deshielding effects from neighboring nucleotides. Proton, carbon and phosphorus chemical shift predictions are available for random coil DNA...

It is shown theoretically and computationally that helical magnetic field, produced by continuous winding helical coils and without the toroidal coil, can sustain MHD stable high beta plasma. Pressure driven toroidal current (bootstrap current) cancels the external magnetic field and reduces the MHD potential energy, depending on the plasma beta values. Ramp-up of heating power input induces bo...

The two-stranded alpha-helical coiled-coil is now recognized as one of nature's favorite ways of creating a dimerization motif. Based on the knowledge of protein folding studies and de novo design model systems, a novel heterodimeric coiled-coil protein was synthesized. The heterodimeric E/K coiled-coil was constructed with two distinct peptides (E and K) that will spontaneously associate into ...

The theory of the a-helix to random coil transition in two-chain, coiled coils is extended to include the effect of loop entropy. To ascertain the conditions under which loop entropy is important, expressions are derived with the neglect of loop entropy for the ratio (R) of the number of residues that are part of randomly coiled runs at the chain ends to the total number of randomly coiled resi...

Retrovirus entry into cells follows receptor binding by the surface-exposed envelope glycoprotein (Env) subunit (SU), which triggers the membrane fusion activity of the transmembrane (TM) protein. TM protein fragments expressed in the absence of SU adopt helical hairpin structures comprising a central coiled coil, a region of chain reversal containing a disulfide-bonded loop, and a C-terminal s...

Self-assembly behavior of a mixture system containing rod-coil block copolymers and rigid homopolymers was investigated by using Brownian dynamics simulations. The morphologies of formed hierarchical self-assemblies were found to be dependent on the Lennard-Jones (LJ) interaction εRR between rod blocks, lengths of rod and coil blocks in copolymer, and mixture ratio of block copolymers to homopo...

We report results of simulation studies of the equilibrium between helical and random coil states of dodeca-alanine by a method which systematically includes the effects of hydration. The statistical distribution of conformations at room temperature is determined and used to fit thermodynamic parameters for the helix to random coil equilibrium which may be directly compared with experimental da...

To improve our understanding of conformational transitions in proteins, we are attempting the de novo design of peptides that switch structural state. Here, we describe coiled-coil peptides with sequence and structural duality; that is, features compatible with two different coiled-coil motifs superimposed within the same sequence. Specifically, we promoted a parallel leucine-zipper dimer under...

Bacteriophage T4 fibritin is a triple-stranded, parallel, segmented alpha-helical coiled-coil protein. Earlier we showed that the C-terminal globular domain (foldon) of fibritin is essential for correct trimerization and folding of the protein. We constructed the chimerical fusion protein W31 in which the fibritin foldon sequence is followed by the small globular non-alpha-helical protein gp31 ...

Involved in numerous key biological functions, protein helix-helix interactions follow a well-defined intermolecular recognition pattern. The characteristic structure of the α-helical coiled-coil allows for the specific randomization of clearly defined interaction partners within heteromeric systems. In this work, a rationally designed heterodimeric coiled-coil was used to investigate potential...