Abstract
Cationic helical peptides play a crucial role in applications such as
anti-microbial and anti-cancer activity. The activity of these peptides
directly correlates with their helicity. In this study, we have
performed extensive all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of 25
Lysine-Leucine co-polypeptide sequences of varying charge density ( λ )
and patterns. Our findings showed that an increase in the charge density
on the peptide leads to a gradual decrease in the helicity up to a
critical charge density λ c . Beyond, λ c a complete helix to coil
transition was observed. The decrease in the helicity correlated with
the increased number of water molecules in first solvation shell,
solvent-exposed surface area, and a higher value of the radius of
gyration of the peptide.