We discuss the effects of the solvent composition on the helix-coil
transition of a polypeptide chain. We use a simple model to demonstrate that
improving the hydrogen-bonding ability of the solvent can make the transition
less cooperative, without affecting the transition temperature. This effect is
very different from other solvent effects which primarily influence the melting
transition rather than the cooperativity.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur
