PROPERTIES AND ORIGINS OF PROTEIN SECONDARY STRUCTURE

Proteins contain a large fraction of regular, repeating conformations, called secondary structure. A simple, generic definition of secondary structure is presented which consists of measuring local correlations along the protein chain. Using this definition and a simple model for proteins, the forces driving the formation of secondary structure are explored. The relative role of energy and entropy are examined. Recen t work has indicated that compaction is sufficient to create secondary structure. We test this hypothesis, using simple nonlattice protein m odels.