α螺旋

聚丙氨酸形成的α螺旋結構的三維面觀

α螺旋（alpha helix (α-helix)；Pauling–Corey–Branson α-helix；3.613-helix）是蛋白質的二級結構。它和β摺疊因具有重複的Φ和Ψ值被統稱為規則二級結構（C_α-N夾角和C_α-C夾角）。

α螺旋一般是右手螺旋。在α螺旋中，平均每個螺旋周期包含3.6個氨基酸殘基，這些殘基側鏈伸向外側。同一肽鏈上的每個殘基的酰胺氫原子和位於它後面的第4個殘基上的羰基氧原子之間形成氫鍵。其中的H－O鍵長2.8Å。這種氫鍵大致與螺旋軸平行。一條多肽鏈呈α螺旋構象的原因是所有肽鍵上的酰胺氫和羰基氧之間形成的鏈內氫鍵。在水環境中，肽鍵上的酰胺氫和羰基氧既能形成分子內（α螺旋內）氫鍵，也能與水分子形成氫鍵。如果後者發生，多肽鏈呈現類似變性蛋白質那樣的伸展構象。非極性溶劑環境對於氫鍵形成沒有影響，因此更可能促進α螺旋的形成。

α螺旋中，氨基酸的R基團指向外側和下側，以避免與多肽鏈的主幹部分之間的位阻影響。α螺旋的核心部分緊密結合，原子之間以凡德瓦力聯繫在一起。

因為其特殊的環狀R基團，脯氨酸一般不出現在α螺旋中部，而經常出現在α螺旋的開始處。

資料來源

• Donald Voet, Judith G. Voet, Charlotte Pratt. Fundamentals Of Biochemistry, upgrade edition

延伸閲讀

• Tooze J, Brändén CI. Introduction to protein structure. New York: Garland Pub. 1999. ISBN 0-8153-2304-2. .
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• Astbury WT, Sisson WA. X-ray studies of the structures of hair, wool and related fibres. III. The configuration of the keratin molecule and its orientation in the biological cell. Proceedings of the Royal Society. 1935, A150 (871): 533–551. Bibcode:1935RSPSA.150..533A. doi:10.1098/rspa.1935.0121. 
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• Wada A. The alpha-helix as an electric macro-dipole. Advances in Biophysics. 1976: 1–63. PMID 797240. 
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• Murzin AG, Finkelstein AV. General architecture of the alpha-helical globule. Journal of Molecular Biology. December 1988, 204 (3): 749–69. PMID 3225849. doi:10.1016/0022-2836(88)90366-X. 

外部連結

• NetSurfP ver. 1.1 - Protein Surface Accessibility and Secondary Structure Predictions （頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館）
• α-helix rotational angle calculator （頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館）
• Artist Julie Newdoll's website （頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館）
• Artist Julian Voss-Andreae's website （頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館）

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