Peptide models for the study of coupled conformational properties of protein secondary structures

This letter describes the construction and use of molecular models designed for the investigation of the coupled conformational properties of polypeptide structures. The models incorporate several degrees of conformational freedom that are not present in other varieties of models, and are in addition furnished with angle dials so that changes in torsional bond angles accompanying motion of the structure may be read out directly. The models are particularly useful in establishing the qualitative mechanical behavior of coupled structures. Once the mechanical behavior of the system is known, it becomes relatively straight-forward to compute the energetics of the system under study.