eprintid: 21282 rev_number: 17 userid: 3477 dir: disk0/00/02/12/82 datestamp: 2014-05-29 14:39:47 lastmod: 2016-11-15 14:19:20 status_changed: 2014-05-29 14:39:47 type: thesis_degree metadata_visibility: show contact_email: zhenminhong@gmail.com item_issues_count: 0 eprint_status: archive creators_name: Hong, Zhenmin creators_email: hillhong@gmail.com title: UV RESONANCE RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY STUDY OF PEPTIDE CONFORMATIONAL TRANSITIONS ispublished: unpub divisions: sch_as_chemistry full_text_status: public keywords: Raman spectroscopy, Protein folding, Peptide, Conformation, alpha-helix abstract: The conformational transition between alpha-helix-like conformations and the polyproline II conformation (now recognized by many as the conformation of unfolded peptides) is investigated here. We utilized UV resonance Raman spectroscopy together with circular dichroism and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to investigate the conformations of three polyalanine peptides and the impacts of salt bridge side chain interaction and external surfactants on the transitions between these conformations. We found that the macrodipole-terminal charge interactions typically affect the alpha-helix stability more strongly than the salt bridge side chain interactions do. The alpha-helix-turn-alpha-helix conformation can form in short peptides with ~20 residues. The arginine vibration band at ~1170 cm-1 was found to report on the guanidinium group hydration. Addition of anionic surfactants induces alpha-helix-like conformations in short cationic peptides through the formation of peptide-surfactant aggregates. The studies here highlight the crucial roles of hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic effect and electrostatic interactions in the peptide conformational transitions. In addition, the impact of sample self absorption on the observed resonance Raman intensities has also been theoretically investigated. In general, the Raman intensities increase as the excitation approaches resonance. However, narrow bandwidth impurity absorption can cause the observed Raman intensities to decrease. date: 2014-05-29 date_type: published pages: 240 institution: University of Pittsburgh refereed: TRUE etdcommittee_type: committee_chair etdcommittee_type: committee_member etdcommittee_type: committee_member etdcommittee_type: committee_member etdcommittee_name: Asher, Sanford A. etdcommittee_name: Chong, Lillian T. etdcommittee_name: Trakselis, Michael A. etdcommittee_name: Wetzel, Ronald B. etdcommittee_email: asher@pitt.edu etdcommittee_email: ltchong@pitt.edu etdcommittee_email: mtraksel@pitt.edu etdcommittee_email: rwetzel@pitt.edu etdcommittee_id: ASHER etdcommittee_id: LTCHONG etdcommittee_id: MTRAKSEL etdcommittee_id: RWETZEL etd_defense_date: 2014-04-11 etd_approval_date: 2014-05-29 etd_submission_date: 2014-04-17 etd_release_date: 2014-05-29 etd_access_restriction: 1_year etd_patent_pending: FALSE thesis_type: dissertation degree: PhD citation: Hong, Zhenmin (2014) UV RESONANCE RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY STUDY OF PEPTIDE CONFORMATIONAL TRANSITIONS. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished) document_url: http://d-scholarship-dev.library.pitt.edu/21282/1/Zhenmin_Hong_etd.pdf