title: Secondary structures at polypeptide-chain termini and their features.
abstract: An analysis of secondary structures (alpha-helices and beta-strands) in the two terminal regions of polypeptide chains reveals features different from those observed over the whole protein structure. Compared with the overall distribution, the helices in the N-terminal region tend to be smaller and have higher propensities to contain Gln and Leu, while the C-terminal helices are longer and have a greater proportion of Lys and Glu. As a strand, the C-terminal region is never found in the interior of parallel beta-sheets and has a higher propensity to be at the edge of antiparallel beta-sheets. In contrast, compared with the whole structure the N-terminal region has a higher propensity to be in the interior of parallel beta-sheets. Compared with the overall distributions, terminal helices and strands show distinct periodicities in length. The Schellman motif, which is a prevalent C-capping motif in helices, is not common in C-terminal helices. There are other observations that can be used in the design of helical peptides: more residues beyond the C-terminus of helices are used for capping interactions than residues before the N-terminus. Consideration of the distribution of terminal strands in the interior and at the edge of beta-sheets suggests a sequential folding mechanism beginning at the N-terminus of the polypeptide chain.
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray / Q000379:methods; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D017510:Protein Folding; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D010455:Peptides