Conformation-dependent sequence design (engineering) of AB copolymers

In this Letter, we propose a new approach to the design of specific primary sequences for the copolymers consisting of monomeric units of two types (A and B). This approach is based on the “coloring” in two “colors” monomeric units of a homopolymer taken in some well-defined conformation (globular conformation, conformation of adsorbed chain, etc.), depending on the spatial position of the unit in this “parent” conformation. Our computer simulations show that copolymers with AB sequences generated in this way acquire a number of special functional properties which distinguish them from the AB copolymers with random or block primary structures. In a sense, we can say that some functional features of the parent conformation are “memorized” or “inherited”) and then manifested in other conditions. This special ABsequence design (engineering of AB copolymers) can be achieved not only in computer simulations but in a chemical laboratory as well. Further studies in this direction may have an important impact both in the problem of obtaining AB copolymers with special functional properties and in the problem of the understanding of basic principles of molecular evolution at its early stages. The general idea just described will be first illustrated taking as an example a globular conformation of a polymer