Conformational Transition of Poly(l-glutamic acid) in Aqueous Decylammonium Chloride Solution

The cooperative binding of decylammonium chloride to poly(l-glutamic acid) (PLG) was studied by the potentiometric measurement of the binding isotherm at pH 7.9. Circular dichroism spectra were also measured as a function of the degree of binding of surfactant ion (x). It was shown that the coil to α-helix transition of PLG-surfactant complex takes place with a change in x. PLG did not undergo an appreciable conformational change in the range of x below 0.55. But the helical content increased suddenly with further increase in x. An abrupt increase in the helical content of PLG-surfactant complex can be well interpreted in terms of the hydrophobic interaction among bound surfactant ions. On the basis of the theoretical analysis of the cooperative binding isotherm, it was concluded that the formation of a micelle-like cluster consisting of at least eight surfactant ions is required for the stabilization of a surfactant induced helical structure.