Entropic stabilization of isolated beta-sheets

Temperature-dependent electric deflection measurements are performed for a series of unsolvated alanine-based peptides, Ac-WA(sub n)-NH2 and the measurements are interpreted using Monte Carlo simulations performed with a parallel tempering algorithm. The results suggest that unsolvated Ac-WA(sub n)-NH2 peptides with n greater than 10 adopt beta-sheet conformations at room temperature.