STATISTICAL-MECHANICS OF MEMBRANE-PROTEIN CONFORMATION - A HOMOPOLYMER MODEL

The conformation and the phase diagram of a membrane protein are inves tigated via grand canonical ensemble approach using a homopolymer mode l. We discuss the nature and pathways of alpha-helix integration into the membrane that result depending upon membrane permeability and poly mer adsorptivity. For a membrane with the permeability larger than a c ritical value, the integration becomes the second order transition tha t occurs at the same temperature as that of the adsorption transition. For a nonadsorbing membrane, the integration is of the first order du e to the aggregation of alpha helices.