Related papers: Crowding effect on helix-coil transition: beyond e…
The conformational behavior of a giant DNA mediated by condensing agents in the bulk solution has been investigated through experimental and theoretical approaches. Experimentally, a pronounced conformational hysteresis is observed for…
We study the stress response to a step strain of covalently bonded gelatin gels in the temperature range where triple helix reversible crosslink formation is prohibited. We observe slow stress relaxation towards a $T$-dependent finite…
Single-molecule fluorescence imaging of adsorption onto initially-bare surfaces shows that polymer chains need not localize immediately after arrival. In a system optimized to present limited adsorption sites (quartz surface to which…
Salt-induced aggregation of 20 nm colloidal silica is followed by light transmission, which shows an a kinetic form exp[-(t/t_0)^{\alpha}], where \alpha = 2.6 and t_0 is an empirical time constant which reflects the colloidal stability. We…
We explore the coupling between the helix-coil and coil-globule transitions of a helical polymer using Monte Carlo simulations. A very rich state diagram is found. Each state is characterized by a specific configuration of the chain which…
We combine small angle scattering experiments and simulations to investigate the internal structure and interactions of composite Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-Poly(ethylene glycol) (PNIPAM-PEG) microgels. At low temperatures the…
We study how varying the P \'eclet number (Pe) affects the steady state sedimentation of colloidal particles that interact through short-ranged attractions. By employing a hybrid molecular dynamics simulation method we demonstrate that the…
Stress relaxation following deformation of an entangled polymeric liquid is thought to be affected by transient reforming of chain entanglements. In this work, we use single molecule techniques to study the relaxation of individual polymers…
We develop a controlled weak coupling renormalization group (RG) approach to itinerant electrons. Within this formalism we rederive the phase diagram for two-dimensional (2D) non-nested systems. Then we study how nesting modifies this phase…
Diffusion in the crowded environments of the biological membranes or materials interfaces often involves intermittent binding to surface proteins or defects. To account for this situation we study a 2-dimensional lattice gas in a field of…
We study the effect of the crowded nature of the cellular cytoplasm on the translocation of a polymer through a pore in a membrane. By systematically treating the entropic penalty due to crowding, we show that the translocation dynamics are…
The helix-coil transition is modified by grafting to a surface. This modification is studied for short peptides capable of forming $\alpha$-helices. Three factors are involved: (i) the grafting can induced change of the boundary free energy…
We study the effects of charge-regulated acid/base equilibrium on the swelling of polyelectrolyte gels, by considering a combination of the Poisson-Boltzmann theory and a two-site charge-regulation model based on the Langmuir adsorption…
We derive an analytical pair potential of mean force for Brownian molecules in the liquid-state. Our approach accounts for many-particle correlations of crowding particles of the liquid, and for diffusive transport across the spatially…
Computer simulations were used to study the gel transition occurring in colloidal systems with short range attractions. A colloid-polymer mixture was modelled and the results were compared with mode coupling theory expectations and with the…
We consider a linear polymer chain in a disordered environment modeled by percolation clusters on a square lattice. The disordered environment is meant to roughly represent molecular crowding as seen in cells. The model may be viewed as the…
The inert polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG) induces a "bundling" phenomenon in F-actin solutions when its concentration exceeds a critical onset value C_o. Over a limited range of PEG molecular weight and ionic strength, C_o can be…
In this work, the nonequilibrium pathways of the collapse of the helix-forming biopolymer polyalanine are investigated. To this end, the full time evolution of the helix-coil transition is simulated using molecular dynamics simulations. At…
The local segmental and global dynamics of a series of polypropylene glycol / silica nanocomposites were studied using rheometry and mechanical and dielectric spectroscopies. The particles cause substantial changes in the rheology,…
We investigate the crystallization of crosslinked and entangled polymers under external deformation using a coarse-grained poly(vinyl alcohol) (CG-PVA) model and molecular dynamics simulations. Following uniaxial deformation, the systems…