Prediction of peptide conformation: The adaptive simulated annealing approach

We report the application of the adaptive simulated annealing (ASA) method as a global optimization approach to biomolecular structure determination, using the ECEPP/2 (empirical conformation energy program for peptides) potential energy form. As applied to Met-enkephalin, our optimization results in a conformation that is in agreement with other studies. In addition, a dominant right-handed α-helical conformation is predicted for a 14-residue poly (L-alanine) model peptide in a limited search range. These results show that ASA is an efficient and robust algorithm for conformational analysis.