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Model Calculational Approach To The Conformation Of Adsorbed Polypeptide Fragments, Timothy J. Mckeon

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The focus of the paper is to examine possible conformational changes of peptides when placed in the presence of a poly-synthetic material. A major concern in the pharmaceutical industry is the loss of potency of polypeptide drug products during processing, packaging and storage. An example of this is polymer syringes being used in place of glass ones. The effect is that some protien-derived products experience structural changes due to contact with the polymer. This is otherwise known as surface denaturation. In order to understand the energetics of interfacial polypeptide systems, a calculational approach was used via the program Alchemy. The …