A direct comparison of helix propensity in proteins and peptides

alpha-Helical secondary structure occurs widely in globular proteins and its formation is a key step in their folding. As a consequence, understanding the energetics of helix formation is crucial to understanding protein folding and stability. We have measured the helix propensities of the nonpolar amino acids for an alpha-helix in an intact protein, ribonuclease T1, and for a 17-residue peptide with a sequence identical to that of the alpha-helix in the protein. The helix propensities are in excellent agreement. This shows that when compared in the same sequence context, the helix propensities of the nonpolar amino acids are identical in helical peptides and intact proteins, and that conclusions based on studies of the helix-to-coil transitions of peptides may, in favorable cases, be directly applicable to proteins. Our helix propensities based on ribonuclease T1 are in good agreement with those from similar studies of barnase and T4 lysozyme. In contrast, our helix propensities differ substantially from those derived from studies of alanine-stabilized or salt bridge-stabilized model alpha-helical peptides.