Related papers: Dynamic force spectroscopy on multiple bonds: expe…
We analyze the stability of micro-domains of ligand-receptor bonds that mediate the adhesion of biological model membranes. After evaluating the effects of membrane fluctuations on the binding affinity of a single bond, we characterize the…
Cooperative binding affects many processes in biology, but it is commonly addressed only in equilibrium. In this work we explore dynamical cooperativity in driven systems, where the cooperation occurs because some of the bonds change the…
We investigate irreversibility and dissipation in single molecules that cooperatively fold/unfold in a two state manner under the action of mechanical force. We apply path thermodynamics to derive analytical expressions for the average…
We consider a microscopic model for the failure of soft adhesives in tension based on ideas of bond rupture under dynamic loading. Focusing on adhesive failure under loading at constant velocity, we demonstrate that bi-modal curves of…
Understanding the relationship between protein sequence, function, and stability is a fundamental problem in biology. While high-throughput methods have produced large numbers of sequence-function pairs, functional assays do not distinguish…
The statistical physics and dynamics of double supported bilayers are studied theoretically. The main goal in designing double supported lipid bilayers is to obtain model systems of biomembranes: the upper bilayer is meant to be almost…
Using the atomic force microscope based break junction approach, applicable to metal point contacts and single molecule junctions, measurements can be repeated thousands of times resulting in rich data sets characterizing the properties of…
Motivated by recent experiments showing nonlinear elasticity of in vitro networks of the biopolymer actin cross-linked with filamin, we present an effective medium theory of flexibly cross-linked stiff polymer networks. We model such…
Measurement of the life time of attachments formed by a single microtubule (MT) with a single kinetochore (kt) {\it in-vitro} under force-clamp conditions had earlier revealed a catch-bond-like behavior. In the past the physical origin of…
In recent years there has been significant interest in the concepts of synthetic dimensions, where one couples the internal degrees of freedom of a particle to form higher-dimensional lattices in lower-dimensional physical structures. For…
Tensile tests were conducted on dual-phase high-strength steel in a Split-Hopkinson Tension Bar at a strain-rate in the range of 150-600/s and in a servo-hydraulic testing machine at a strain-rate between 10-3 and 100/s. A novel specimen…
We review the physical properties of macromolecular networks, consisting of semiflexible polymers such as actin. We start by giving a theoretical analysis of the conformational statistics and mechanical response of single filaments.…
We present an experimental and theoretical study of the high-energy excitation spectra of a dipolar supersolid. Using Bragg spectroscopy, we study the scattering response of the system to a high-energy probe, enabling measurements of the…
This study presents a novel, versatile traction force microscopy framework for quantifying three-dimensional (3D) interfacial forces during bio-adhesion by integrating in situ stereo digital image correlation with finite element (FE)…
Single-molecule mechanical manipulation has enabled the quantitative understanding of the kinetics of bond ruptures as well as protein unfolding mechanism. Single-molecule experiments with theoretical models have allowed one to gain insight…
The applicability of the density functional based tight binding (DFTB) method to the description of hydrogen bond dynamics and infrared spectroscopy is addressed for the exemplary protic ionic liquid triethylammonium nitrate. Potential…
We study a model describing the force-extension curves of modular proteins, nucleic acids, and other biomolecules made out of several single units or modules. At a mesoscopic level of description, the configuration of the system is given by…
We use molecular dynamics to study the vibrations of a thermally fluctuating two-dimensional elastic membrane clamped at both ends. We directly extract the eigenmodes from resonant peaks in the frequency domain of the time-dependent height…
The mechanics of single-chain stretching and rupture are central to understanding the resilience of biological polymers and designing strong and tough soft materials such as double-network gels and multi-network elastomers. In this work, we…
Heterogeneity in biological molecules, resulting in molecule-to-molecule variations in their dynamics and function, is an emerging theme. To elucidate the consequences of heterogeneous behavior at the single molecule level, we propose an…