
Firstly the side chain groups are quite well separated. The alpha helix conformation has a particular stability for two main reasons. The 3_10 helix has a smaller radius, compared to the α-helix, while the π-helix has a larger radius. Other helical structures include the 3_10 helix, which is stabilized by hydrogen bonds of the type (i, i+3) and the π-helix, which is stabilized by hydrogen bonds of the type (i, i+5). The α-helix is not the only helical structure in proteins. This regular pattern gives the α-helix very definite features with regards to the thickness of the coil and the length of each complete turn along the helix axis. Such a hydrogen bond is formed exactly every 4 amino acid residues, and every complete turn of the helix is only 3.6 amino acid residues.

This coil is held together by hydrogen bonds between the oxygen of C=O on top coil and the hydrogen of N-H on the bottom coil.


The prediction was confirmed when the first three-dimensional structure of a protein, myoglobin (by Max Perutz and John Kendrew) was determined by X-ray crystallography.Īn α-helix is a right-handed coil of amino-acid residues on a polypeptide chain, typically ranging between 4 and 40 residues. Linus Pauling was the first to predict the existence of α-helices. The most common type of secondary structure in proteins is the α-helix. The secondary structures in proteins arise from repeating patterns of similar peptide dihedral angles (φ and Ψ)for successive residues

The secondary structures imply the hierarchy by providing repeating sets of interactions between functional groups along the polypeptide backbone chain that creates, in turn, irregularly shaped surfaces of projecting amino acid side chains. \) in the side chain of hydroxyproline allows more hydrogen bonding in the collagen peptide which makes connective tissues stronger.Protein Secondary Structure Prediction-Background theory
