| Abstract: | In response to the Paracelsus Challenge (Rose and Creamer, Proteins, 19:1–3, 1994), we present here the design, synthesis, and characterization of a helical protein, whose sequence is 50% identical to that of an all-β protein. The new sequence was derived by applying an inverse protein folding approach, in which the sequence was optimized to “fit” the new helical structure, but constrained to retain 50% of the original amino acid residues. The program utilizes a genetic algorithm to optimize the sequence, together with empirical potentials of mean force to evaluate the sequence-structure compatibility. Although the designed sequence has little ordered (secondary) structure in water, circular dichroism and nuclear magnetic resonance data show clear evidence for significant helical content in water/ethylene glycol and in water/methanol mixtures at low temperatures, as well as melting behavior indicative of cooperative folding. We believe that this represents a significant step toward meeting the Paracelsus Challenge. |
