Peptides in membranes: Helicity and hydrophobicity

Abstract

Synthetic model membrane-interactive peptides—both of natural and designed sequence—have become convenient and systematic tools for determination of how the membrane-spanning segments within integral membrane proteins confer protein structure and biology. Conformational studies on these peptides demonstrate that the α-helix is the natural choice of conformation for a peptide segment in a membrane, and that a helical conformation will arise “automatically” in a peptide above a threshold hydrophobicity that allows it to associate stably with the membrane. Environmental and sequential contexts thus impart conformational versatility to many of the amino acids, thereby providing a mechanism for producing the diverse structural and functional properties of proteins. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.