Adsorption of polypeptides on a solid surface. IV. Adsorption and β‐structure–coil transition

A theory of adsorption of a polypetide chain capable of undergoing the coil–β-structure transition on a solid planar surface has been developed. The mutual influence of two order–disorder phase transitions, a conformational and an adsorption transition, was investigated. Various types of adsorption transitions are possible, depending on the initial conformational state (partly or completely β-structured) and the selectivity of adsorption: (a) the second-order phase transition, in which the chain is partly structured, both in adsorbed and desorbed states; and (b) the first-order phase transition, in which the chain exhibits a regular β-structure, at least on one side of the adsorption transition boundary. The chain bonding to the surface alters the degree of β-structure, both in the case of selective and nonselective adsorption (similar to the adsorption of the chains with other types of secondary structure). We show that the slope of the adsorption curves for partly β-structural chains increases as a result of an increase in the degree of β-structuring, and this effect is even stronger than the analogous effect of β-structuring.