Investigation of polypeptide conformational transitions with two-dimensional Raman optical activity correlation analysis, applying autocorrelation and moving window approaches

The study of conformational transitions in polypeptides is not only important for the understanding of folding mechanisms responsible for the self-assembly of proteins but also for the investigation of the misfolding of proteins that can result in diseases including cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's diseases. Our recent studies developing two-dimensional Raman optical activity (ROA) correlation analysis have proven to be successful in the investigation of polypeptide conformational transitions. However, the complexity of the ROA spectra, and the 2D correlation synchronous and asynchronous plots, makes data analysis detailed and complex, requiring great care in interpretation of 2D correlation rules. By utilizing the 2D correlation approaches of autocorrelation and moving windows it has been possible to gain further information from the ROA spectral data sets in a simpler and more consistent way. The most significant spectral intensity changes have been easily identified, facilitating appropriate interpretation of synchronous plots, and transition phases have been identified in the moving window plots, directly relating spectral intensity changes to the perturbation.