Related papers: Role of Loading Device on Single-Molecule Mechanic…
Motor-driven cargo transport is a complex phenomenon where multiple motor proteins attached on to a cargo engage in pulling activity, often leading to tug-of-war, displaying bidirectional motion. However, most mathematical and computational…
A microscopic theory of the free energy barriers and folding routes for minimally frustrated proteins is presented, greatly expanding on the presentation of the variational approach outlined previously [J. J. Portman, S. Takada, P. G.…
To what extent do general features of folding/unfolding kinetics of small globular proteins follow from their thermodynamic properties? To address this question, we investigate a new simplifed protein chain model that embodies a cooperative…
We investigate how the removal of a single bond affects the fracture behavior of triangular spring networks, whereby we systematically vary the position of the removed bond. Our simulations show that removing the bond has two contrasting…
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…
Detecting conformational transitions in molecular systems is key to understanding biological processes. Here, we investigate the force variance in single-molecule pulling experiments as an indicator of molecular folding transitions. We…
We study the mechanical stiffening behavior in two-dimensional (2D) cross-linked networks of semiflexible biopolymer filaments under simple shear. Filamental constituents immersed in a fluid undergo thermally excited bending motions.…
Analysis of bond rupture data from single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments commonly relies on the strong assumption that the bond dissociation process is irreversible. However, with increased spatiotemporal resolution of instruments…
The process of protein folding from an unfolded state to a biologically active, folded conformation is governed by many parameters e.g the sequence of amino acids, intermolecular interactions, the solvent, temperature and chaperon…
Buckling plays a critical role in the transport and dynamics of elastic microfilaments in Stokesian fluids. However, previous work has only considered filaments with homogeneous structural properties. Filament backbone stiffness can be…
We review statistical-mechanical theories of single-molecule micromanipulation experiments on nucleic acids. First, models for describing polymer elasticity are introduced. We then review how these models are used to interpret…
The folding dynamics of proteins at the single molecule level has been studied with single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) experiments for twenty years, but a common standardized method for the analysis of the collected data and for the…
We deduce a fully analytical model to predict the artifacts of the measuring device handles in Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy experiments. As we show, neglecting the effects of the handle stiffness can lead to crucial overestimation or…
We review theoretical approaches, experiments and numerical simulations that have been recently proposed to investigate the folding problem in single-domain proteins. From a theoretical point of view, we emphasize the energy landscape…
The present work involves the discrete modelling of corrosion induced cracking and its influence on the bond between reinforcement and concrete. A lattice approach is used to describe the mechanical interaction of a corroding reinforcement…
Biofilament-motor protein complexes are ubiquitous in biology and drive the transport of cargo vital for many fundamental cellular processes. As they move, motor proteins exert compressive forces on the filaments to which they are attached,…
Neither of the two prevalent theories, namely thermodynamic stability and kinetic stability, provides a comprehensive understanding of protein folding. The thermodynamic theory is misleading because it assumes that free energy is the…
In single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments, a biomolecule is attached to a force probe via polymer linkers, and the total extension -- of molecule plus apparatus -- is monitored as a function of time. In a typical unfolding…
Recent single-molecule force measurements on single-domain proteins have highlighted a three-state folding mechanism where a stabilized intermediate state (I) is observed on the folding trajectory between the stretched state and the native…
We study the mechanical unfolding of a simple model protein. The Langevin dynamics results are analyzed using Markov-model methods which allow to describe completely the configurational space of the system. Using transition path theory we…