Statistical mechanics of noncovalent bonds in polyamino acids. III. Interhelical hydrophobic bonds in short chains

Abstract
A partition function is derived for a simple model of interacting helices in a short (20 residues) chain of poly‐L‐alanine. It is found that interhelical hydrophobic bonds effect a marked stabilization of helical forms, and give rise to a sharp transition of the type found in many proteins.