Hydrogen bonds triple helix

Exopolysaccharides in solution have an ordered helical conformation, which may be single, double or triple for example, xanthan forms a double or triple helix (Figure 7.3c). These are stabilised by intermolecular hydrogen bonds. The helical conformation makes the exopolysaccharide semirigid and the molecules can move large volumes of solution. These volumes overlap even at low concentrations of exopolysaccharide, giving rise to relatively high viscosities. 

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the chain alignment of a triple helix. Circles represent o-carbons, that of glycine is denoted number 1. Heavy circles indicate the chain in front, the N-terminal is at the bottom. The intrachain hydrogen bonds are designated by broken lines...

In the case of cooperative processes, the formation of a nucleus, already discussed from the kinetical point of view, plays a crucial role. The steady state described by Eq. (1) depicts the formation of a triple helix as the simplest model by the formation of a nucleus Hx through fast pre-equilibria and subsequent propagation steps, Hx in this case is a triple-helical intermediate with x tripeptide units (that means x hydrogen bonds) in the helical state. The final product H3n 2 possesses two hydrogen bonds less than tripeptide units because the three single chains are staggered at one amino add residue each. 

Collagen forms a triple helix, where three chains of connected amino acids form weak hydrogen bonds between the double-bonded oxygen atoms and the hydrogen atoms attached to the adjacent chain s nitrogens. The three chains then twist together like three cords in a rope. 

Fig. 21.—Structure of the 6-fold anhydrous curdlan III (19) helix, (a) Stereo view of a full turn of the parallel triple helix. The three strands are distinguished by thin bonds, open bonds, and filled bonds, respectively. In addition to intrachain hydrogen bonds, the triplex shows a triad of 2-OH - 0-2 interchain hydrogen bonds around the helix axis (vertical line) at intervals of 2.94 A. (b) A c-axis projection of the unit cell contents illustrates how the 6-0H - 0-4 hydrogen bonds between triple helices stabilize the crystalline lattice.

Three classes of nucleic acid triple helices have been described for oligonucleotides containing only natural units. They differ according to the base sequences and the relative orientation of the phosphate-deoxyribose backbone of the third strand. All the three classes involve Hoogsteen or reverse Hoogsteen-like hydrogen bonding interaction between the triple helix form-... 

Figure 9(a) shows the arrangement of urea molecules and hydrogen bonds. The sequence of urea molecules around the canal axis constitutes a triple helix. 

Hydrogen bonding is a critical part of triple helix stabilization. The triple helix has repetitive backbone hydrogen-bonding networks, but differs from j3 sheets or a helices in that the repeating tripeptide unit consists... 

Figure 16 Interchain hydrogen bond network in collagen triple helix. The figure was generated using the UCSF Chimera package and coordinates from PDB structure 1QSU.

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