title: Low-frequency vibrations of helical structures in protein molecules.
abstract: A physically intuitive and mathematically easily handled formula is presented for calculating the low-frequency vibrations of helical structures in protein molecules. alpha-Chymotrypsin is taken as an example, and the calculated result shows precise agreement with observations of the low-frequency Raman spectra. As reflected in the formula, this kind of low frequency is very sensitive to the conformation of a biomacromolecule, and can therefore serve as a vehicle to investigate the mechanism of action of a biomacromolecule from the viewpoint of dynamics. On this basis a feasible experiment is suggested by which one can examine the relationship between a presumed mode of low-frequency vibration in a biomacromolecule and its activity.
mesh_terms: D002918:Chymotrypsin; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008956:Models, Chemical; D011487:Protein Conformation; D014732:Vibration
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D002918:Chymotrypsin