An interactive graphic program for calculating the secondary structure content of proteins from circular dichroism spectrum

Abstract

A graphic program has been developed to calculate the secondary structure content of proteins from their circular dichroism spectrum. All the information concerning analysis and results are given on a single screen. The actual and the theoretical spectra are plotted to allow visual inspection of the fit quality. The percentages of secondary structure and statistical parameters (r. m. s., residuals) are provided. The program is fully interactive for spectra analysis. Moreover, cursors driven by a mouse or arrow keys are moveable onto spectra yielding all the information concerning a given wavelength, such as the theoretical and experimental ellipticities, wavelength, values of reference model for α-helix, β-sheet and β-turn. Interfaces are provided for the CONTIN program ofProvencher and Glockner.