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Observations of single epidermal cells on flat adhesive substrates have revealed two distinct morphological and functional states, namely a non-migrating symmetric unpolarized state and a migrating asymmetric polarized state. These states…
What can cells gain by using disordered, rather than folded, proteins in the architecture of their skeleton? Disordered proteins take multiple co-existing conformations, and often contain segments which act as random-walk-shaped polymers.…
Subcellular protein complexes and organelles exhibit diverse dynamic behaviors that reflect the mechanical constraints and organization of the intracellular environment. Although some structures follow classical Brownian motion, many…
Active matter systems evade the constraints of thermal equilibrium, leading to the emergence of intriguing collective behavior. A paradigmatic example is given by motor-filament mixtures, where the motion of motor proteins drives alignment…
The cell membrane is inherently asymmetric and heterogeneous in its composition, a feature that is crucial for its function. Using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, the physical properties of a 3-component asymmetric mixed lipid…
This work examines the conformational ensemble involved in $\beta$-hairpin folding by means of advanced molecular dynamics simulations and dimensionality reduction. A fully atomistic description of the protein and the surrounding solvent…
Many different proteins self-aggregate into insoluble fibrils growing apically by reversible addition of elementary building blocks. But beyond this common principle, the modalities of fibril formation are very disparate, with various…
Understanding the mechanism of protein secondary structure formation is an essential part of protein-folding puzzle. Here we describe a simple model for the formation of the $\beta$-hairpin, motivated by the fact that folding of a…
Neurodegenerative diseases are associated with the assembly of specific proteins into oligomers and fibrillar aggregates. At the brain scale, these protein assemblies can diffuse through the brain and seed other regions, creating an…
Non-coding RNA sequences play a great role in controlling a number of cellular functions, thus raising the need to understand their complex conformational dynamics in quantitative detail. In this perspective, we first show that single…
The study of biomolecular folding has been greatly advanced by single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS), which enables the observation of the dynamics of individual molecules. However, extracting quantitative models of fundamental…
Within self-consistent field theory we study the phase behavior of a symmetrical binary AB polymer blend confined into a thin film. The film surfaces interact with the monomers via short range potentials. One surface attracts the A…
Certain sequences of peptoid polymers (synthetic analogs of peptides) assemble into bilayer nanosheets via a nonequilibrium assembly pathway of adsorption, compression, and collapse at an air-water interface. As with other large-scale…
Under dehydration conditions, amphipathic Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) proteins fold spontaneously from a random conformation into alpha-helical structures and this transition is promoted by the presence of membranes. To gain insight…
We investigate the copolymerization behavior of a two-component system into quasi-linear self-assemblies under conditions that interspecies binding is favored over identical species binding. The theoretical framework is based on a…
Melanin is a ubiquitous natural pigment that exhibits broadband absorption and high refractive index. Despite its widespread use in structural color production, how the absorbing material, melanin, affects the generated color is unknown.…
Co-assembly of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) and nanostructured polymer matrix represents an intricate interplay of enthalpic or entropic forces. Particle size largely affects the phase behavior of the nanocomposite. Theoretical studies…
Membrane proteins and lipids can self-assemble into membrane protein polyhedral nanoparticles (MPPNs). MPPNs have a closed spherical surface and a polyhedral protein arrangement, and may offer a new route for structure determination of…
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common form of dementia observed in the elderly due to neurodegenerative disorder and dysfunction. This arises from alterations in synaptic functioning of neurons leading to cognitive impairment and memory…
We introduce a mathematical model of the in vivo progression of Alzheimer's disease with focus on the role of prions in memory impairment. Our model consists of differential equations that describe the dynamic formation of {\beta}-amyloid…