Related papers: The atomic-level mechanism underlying the function…
We present Molecular Dynamics simulations of a single stranded unprotonated DNA i-motif in explicit solvent. Our results indicate that the native structure in non-acidic solution at 300 K is unstable and completely vanishes on a time scale…
Water is vital for life, and without it biomolecules and cells cannot maintain their structures and functions. The remarkable properties of water originate from its ability to form hydrogen-bonding networks and dynamics, which the…
High-resolution structural information on membrane proteins is essential for understanding cell biology and for structure-based design of new medical drugs and drug delivery strategies. X-ray diffraction (XRD) can provide {\AA}ngstrom-level…
Phase-separated biomolecular condensates exhibit a wide range of dynamical properties, which depend on the sequences of the constituent proteins and RNAs. However, it is unclear to what extent condensate dynamics can be tuned without also…
Water molecules inside G-protein coupled receptor have recently been spotlighted in a series of crystal structures. To decipher the dynamics and functional roles of internal waters in GPCR activity, we studied A$_{\text{2A}}$ adenosine…
A field theoretic variational approach is introduced to study ion penetration into water-filled cylindrical nanopores in equilibrium with a bulk reservoir. It is shown that (i) an ion located in a neutral pore undergoes two opposing…
The laws of quantum mechanics are often tested against the behaviour of the lightest element in the periodic table, hydrogen. One of the most striking properties of molecular hydrogen is the coupling between molecular rotational properties…
It has long been an aspirational goal to create artificial structures that allow fast permeation of water but reject even the smallest hydrated ions, replicating the feat achieved by nature in protein channels (e.g., aquaporins). Despite…
Collagen type I is well-known for its outstanding mechanical properties which it inherits from its hierarchical structure. Collagen type I fibrils may be viewed as an heterogeneous material made of protein, macromolecules (such as…
Quantum-mechanical van der Waals dispersion interactions play an essential role for both intra-protein and protein-water interactions -- the two main driving forces for the structure and dynamics of proteins in aqueous solution. Typically,…
We study four citrate synthase homodimeric proteins within a structure-based coarse-grained model. Two of these proteins come from thermophilic bacteria, one from a cryophilic bacterium and one from a mesophilic organism; three are in the…
The growing usage of nanoparticles of zinc sulfide as quantum dots and biosensors calls for a theoretical assessment of interactions of ZnS with biomolecules. We employ the molecular-dynamics-based umbrella sampling method to determine…
We report that protein confinement within nanoscopic vesicular compartments corresponds to a liquid-liquid phase transition with the protein/water within vesicle lumen interacting very differently than in bulk. We show this effect leads to…
Co$_3$O$_4$ is an important catalyst for the oxidation of organic molecules in the liquid phase. Still, understanding the atomistic details of Co$_3$O$_4$-water interfaces under operando conditions remains extremely challenging. While ab…
We investigate theoretically the behavior of proteins as well as other large macromolecules which are incorporated into amphiphilic monolayers at the air-water interface. We assume the monolayer to be in the coexistence region of the…
The mobility of water molecules confined in a silica pore is studied by computer simulation in the low hydration regime, where most of the molecules reside close to the hydrophilic substrate. A layer analysis of the single particle dynamics…
Biological membranes are self-assembled complex fluid interfaces that host proteins, molecular motors and other macromolecules essential for cellular function. These membranes have a distinct in-plane fluid response with a surface viscosity…
How can we design proteins with desired functions? We are motivated by a chemical intuition that both geometric structure and biochemical properties are critical to a protein's function. In this paper, we propose SurfPro, a new method to…
Protein chains of the (FG)$_n$ ($n \simeq$ 300) type cap the cytoplasmatic side of the nucleopore complex, which connects the nucleus to the remainder of an eukaryotic cell. We study the properties of three fundamental polymer models that…
We examine the interactions between actively rotating proteins moving in a membrane. Experimental evidence suggests that such rotor proteins, like the ATP synthases of the inner mitochondrial membrane, can arrange themselves into lattices.…