Question

Amphipathic alpha helices have one polar side and one non-polar side. Design a 6-turn amphipathic alpha and write down the sequence. Use at least 10 different amino acids in you helix. Give consideration to the composition and sequences of alpha helices. Explain your choice of Amino acid sequences. THANK YOU

Answer 1

An alpha helix is a tightly packed, twisted structure of an amino acid chain. It forms a rod-like structure.

The amino acids methionine, alanine, leucine, glutamate and lysine are highly likely to form an alpha helix while the amino acids proline and lycine generally do not form alpha helices.

A six-turn amphipathic alpha helix can be like this --

The sequence of amino acids in the amphipathic helix is as below-

Non-polar end- Met1-Lys-Leu12-Glu-Val13-Ser11-Ile-Gln18-Leu8-Glu18-- Polar end

Of the above amino acids, the non-polar amino acids are- Met, Leu12, Val13, Ile and Leu8

The polar amino acids are- Lys, Glu, Ser11, Gln18 and Glu8