Conformations of a synthetic peptide which facilitates the cellular delivery of nucleic acids

Summary We describe the synthesis of an amphipathic vector peptide which is able to form complexes with nucleic acids. Based on circular dichroism investigations, the nature of the structure obtained in water is questioned. The peptide adopts an α-helical structure in TFE and is partially in a β-sheet conformation in phosphate buffer at low peptide concentrations.