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The adhesion of biological membranes is mediated by the binding of membrane-anchored receptor and ligand proteins. Central questions are how the binding kinetics of these proteins is affected by the membranes and by the membrane anchoring…
Adhesive interactions between elastic structures such as graphene sheets, carbon nanotubes, and microtubules have been shown to exhibit hysteresis due to irrecoverable energy loss associated with bond breakage, even in static…
A colloidal system of spheres interacting with both a deep and narrow attractive potential and a shallow long-ranged barrier exhibits a prepeak in the static structure factor. This peak can be related to an additional mesoscopic length…
Composites of flexible and rigid polymers are ubiquitous in biology and industry alike, yet the physical principles determining their mechanical properties are far from understood. Here, we couple force spectroscopy with large-scale…
Two-state cooperativity is an important characteristic in protein folding. It is defined by a depletion of states lying energetically between folded and unfolded conformations. While there are different ways to test for two-state…
The folding dynamics of small single-domain proteins is a current focus of simulations and experiments. Many of these proteins are 'two-state folders', i.e. proteins that fold rather directly from the denatured state to the native state,…
We adopt the point of view that analysis of the stability of the protein folding process is central to understanding the underlying physics of folding. Stability of the folding process means that many perturbations do not disrupt the…
Cellular form and function emerge from complex mechanochemical systems within the cytoplasm. No systematic strategy currently exists to infer large-scale physical properties of a cell from its many molecular components. This is a…
Motivated by tunnel accidents in the recent past several investigations into the sustained load behavior of adhesive anchors have been initiated. Nevertheless, the reliable life-time prediction of bonded anchor systems based on a relatively…
Contractile forces are essential for many developmental processes involving cell shape change and tissue deformation. Recent experiments on reconstituted actomyosin networks, the major component of the contractile machinery, have shown that…
We present a solvable model that predicts the folding kinetics of two-state proteins from their native structures. The model is based on conditional chain entropies. It assumes that folding processes are dominated by small-loop closure…
The principles underlying protein folding remains one of Nature's puzzles with important practical consequences for Life. An approach that has gathered momentum since the late 1990's, looks at protein hetero-polymers and their folding…
The proteins involved in cells' mechanobiological processes have evolved specialized and surprising responses to applied forces. Biochemical transformations that show catch-to-slip switching and force-induced pathway switching serve…
The interaction of the actin cytoskeleton with cell-substrate adhesions is necessary for cell migration. While the trajectories of motile cells have a stochastic character, investigations of cell motility mechanisms rarely elaborate on the…
We extend the Bell forced dissociation rate model to take account into dynamic disorder. The motivation of the present work is from the recent forced dissociation experiments of the adhesive receptor-ligand complexes, in which some…
The paper addresses the underlying source of two forms of induced anisotropy in granular materials: contact orientation anisotropy and contact force anisotropy. A rational, mathematical structure is reviewed for the manner in which fabric…
Intracellular bidirectional transport of cargo on microtubule filaments is achieved by the collective action of oppositely directed dynein and kinesin motors. Experiments have found that in certain cases, inhibiting the activity of one type…
We propose a generic model to describe the mechanical response and failure of systems which undergo a series of stick-slip events when subjected to an external load. We model the system as a bundle of fibers, where single fibers can…
The binding of a ligand molecule to a protein is often accompanied by conformational changes of the protein. A central question is whether the ligand induces the conformational change (induced-fit), or rather selects and stabilizes a…
Simulations of tethered cells in viscous sub-layers are frequently performed using the Stokes drag force, but without taking into account contributions from surface corrections, lift forces, buoyancy, the Basset force, the cells finite…