Related papers: Role of pulling direction in understanding the ene…
The conformational dynamics of a single protein molecule in a shear flow is investigated using Brownian dynamics simulations. A structure-based coarse grained model of a protein is used. We consider two proteins, ubiquitin and integrin, and…
Molecular dynamics simulations of folding in an off-lattice protein model reveal a nucleation scenario, in which a few well-defined contacts are formed with high probability in the transition state ensemble of conformations. Their…
We formulate and characterize a model to describe the dynamics of semiflexible polymers in the presence of activity due to motor proteins attached irreversibly to a substrate, and a transverse pulling force acting on one end of the…
In spite of decades of research, much remains to be discovered about folding: the detailed structure of the initial (unfolded) state, vestigial folding instructions remaining only in the unfolded state, the interaction of the molecule with…
Natural protein sequences contain a record of their history. A common constraint in a given protein family is the ability to fold to specific structures, and it has been shown possible to infer the main native ensemble by analyzing…
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…
In single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments, the dependence of the mean unfolding force on the loading rate is used for obtaining information about the energetic and dynamic properties of the system under study. However, it is crucial…
The response of proteins to chemical reactions or impulsive excitation that occurs within the molecule has fascinated chemists for decades. In recent years ultrafast X-ray studies have provided ever more detailed information about the…
A central goal of protein-folding theory is to predict the stochastic dynamics of transition paths --- the rare trajectories that transit between the folded and unfolded ensembles --- using only thermodynamic information, such as a…
Protein folding is the intricate process by which a linear sequence of amino acids self-assembles into a unique three-dimensional structure. Protein folding kinetics is the study of pathways and time-dependent mechanisms a protein undergoes…
The folding of naturally occurring, single domain proteins is usually well-described as a simple, single exponential process lacking significant trapped states. Here we further explore the hypothesis that the smooth energy landscape this…
We present a statistical mechanics approach to the protein folding problem. We first review some of the basic properties of proteins, and introduce some physical models to describe their thermodynamics. These models rely on a random…
Natural protein sequences somehow encode the structural forms that these molecules adopt. Recent developments in structure-prediction are agnostic to the mechanisms by which proteins fold and represent them as static objects. However, the…
Understanding the principles of protein folding is a cornerstone of computational biology, with implications for drug design, bioengineering, and the understanding of fundamental biological processes. Lattice protein folding models offer a…
We report studies of the equilibrium and the dynamics of a general set of lattice models which capture the essence of the force-induced or mechanical DNA unzipping transition. Besides yielding the whole equilibrium phase diagram in the…
We review some of our recent results obtained within the scope of simple lattice models and Monte Carlo simulations that illustrate the role of native geometry in the folding kinetics of two state folders.
DNA hairpin molecules with periodic base sequences can be expected to exhibit a regular coarse-grained free energy landscape (FEL) as function of the number of open base pairs and applied mechanical force. Using a commonly employed model,…
A statistical mechanical description of flexible and semi-flexible polymer chains in a poor solvent is developed in the constant force and constant distance ensembles. We predict the existence of many intermediate states at low temperatures…
The thermodynamics of proteins indicate that folding/unfolding takes place either through stable intermediates or through a two-state process without intermediates. The rather short folding times of the two-state process indicate that…
Extensive Monte Carlo folding simulations for four proteins of various structural classes are carried out, using a single atomistic potential. In all cases, collapse occurs at a very early stage, and proteins fold into their native-like…