Related papers: Single Chain Force Spectroscopy: Sequence Dependen…
Herein, we describe new methods to produce colloidal particle chains of three stiffness regimes that can be observed on a single-particle level, that is, on the level of the monomers that make up the chain; the chains can even be observed…
A DNA-protein complex modelled by a semiflexible chain and an attractive spherical core is studied in the situation when an external stretching force is acting on one end monomer of the chain while the other end monomer is kept fixed in…
Molecular dynamics simulations are used to investigate the conformations of a single polymer chain, represented by the Kremer-Grest bead-spring model, in a solution with a Lennard-Jones liquid as the solvent when the interaction strength…
A polymer network fractures by breaking covalent bonds, but the experimentally measured strength of the polymer network is orders of magnitude lower than the strength of covalent bonds. We investigate the effect of statistical variation of…
We analyse the nature of the confinement of an infinitely long (and finite) linear semiflexible homo-polymer chain confined in between two geometrical constraints (A&B) under good solvent condition in two dimensions. The constraints are…
We present results of numerical self-consistent field (SCF) calculations for the equilibrium mechanical unfolding of a globule formed by a single flexible polymer chain collapsed in a poor solvent. In accordance with earlier scaling theory…
Self-mated hydrogel contacts show extremely small friction coefficients at low loads but a distinct velocity dependence. Here we combine mesoscopic simulations and experiments to test the polymer-relaxation hypothesis for this velocity…
Dynamic force spectroscopy of single molecules is described by a model which predicts a distribution of rupture forces, the corresponding mean rupture force and variance, all amenable to experimental tests. The distribution has a pronounced…
Topological entanglements in polymers are mimicked by sliding rings (slip-links) which enforce pair contacts between monomers. We study the force-extension curve for linear polymers in which slip-links create additional loops of variable…
We describe a simple meanfield variational approach to study a number of properties of intrinsically stiff chains which are appropriate models for a large class of biopolymers. We present the calculation of the distribution of end-to-end…
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…
Statistical analysis of alignments of large numbers of protein sequences has revealed "sectors" of collectively coevolving amino acids in several protein families. Here, we show that selection acting on any functional property of a protein,…
In the current AFM experiments the distribution of unfolding times, P(t), is measured by applying a constant stretching force f_s from which the apparent unfolding rate is obtained. To describe the complexity of the underlying energy…
Within a simple elastic theory, we study the elongation versus force characteristics of a supercoiled DNA molecule at thermal equilibrium in the regime of small supercoiling. The partition function is mapped to the path integral…
We study the influence of some quenched disorder in the sequence of monomers on the entropic elasticity of long polymeric chains. Starting from the Kratky-Porod model, we show numerically that some randomness in the favoured angles between…
We analyze the nonequilibrium dynamics of single inextensible semiflexible biopolymers as stretching forces are applied at the ends. Based on different (contradicting) heuristic arguments, various scaling laws have been proposed for the…
Using molecular dynamic simulation, we study the stretching of an adsorbed homopolymer in a poor solvent with one end held at a distance $z_e$ from the substrate. We measure the vertical force $f$ on the end of the chain as a function of…
We analyze a (1+1)-dimension directed random walk model of a polymer dipped in a medium constituted by two immiscible solvents separated by a flat interface. The polymer chain is heterogeneous in the sense that a single monomer may…
Mechanical stretching of secondary structures is studied through molecular dynamics simulations of a Go-like model. Force vs. displacement curves are studied as a function of the stiffness and velocity of the pulling device. The succession…
Although the stretching of polymers and biomolecules is important in numerous settings, their response when confined to two-dimensions is relatively poorly-studied. In this paper, we derive closed-form analytical expressions for the…