Related papers: A hierarchical scheme for cooperativity and foldin…
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…
We discuss recent theoretical developments in the study of simple lattice models of proteins. Such models are designed to understand general features of protein structures and mechanism of folding. Among the topics covered are (i) the use…
The folding of naturally occurring, single domain proteins is usually well-described as a simple, single exponential process lacking significant trapped states. Here we further explore the hypothesis that the smooth energy landscape this…
The effects of cooperativity are studied within Go-Lennard-Jones models of proteins by making the contact interactions dependent on the proximity to the native conformation. The kinetic universality classes are found to remain the same as…
The relation between cooperativity of protein folding and the Random-Field Ising Model (RFIM) is established. Generalization of the Imry-Ma argument predicts cooperative folding transition for small heterogeneity of the interactions…
Making use of a simplified model for protein folding, it can be shown that conformations which are particularly stable when their energy is minimized with respect to amino acid sequence (in the sense that they display a large energy gap to…
Protein structure prediction and folding are fundamental to understanding biology, with recent deep learning advances reshaping the field. Diffusion-based generative models have revolutionized protein design, enabling the creation of novel…
We propose a general theory to describe the distribution of protein-folding transition paths. We show that transition paths follow a predictable sequence of high-free-energy transient states that are separated by free-energy barriers. Each…
The thermodynamics of proteins indicate that folding/unfolding takes place either through stable intermediates or through a two-state process without intermediates. The rather short folding times of the two-state process indicate that…
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.…
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…
Proteins are the "work horses" in biological systems. In almost all functions specific proteins are involved. They control molecular transport processes, stabilize the cell structure, enzymatically catalyze chemical reactions; others act as…
Two proteins, one belonging to the mainly alpha class and the other belonging to the alpha/beta class, are selected to test a kinetic mechanism for protein folding. Targeted molecular dynamics is applied to generate folding pathways for…
These lectures will address two questions. Is there a simple variational principle underlying the existence of secondary motifs in the native state of proteins? Is there a general approach which can qualitatively capture the salient…
With the help of lattice Monte Carlo modelling of heteropolymers, we show that the necessary condition for a protein to fold on short call is to proceed through partially folded intermediates. These elementary structures are formed at an…
Protein folding and design are major biophysical problems, the solution of which would lead to important applications especially in medicine. Here a novel protein model capable of simultaneously provide quantitative protein design and…
Novel numerical techniques, validated by an analysis of barnase and chymotrypsin inhibitor, are used to elucidate the paramount role played by the geometry of the protein backbone in steering the folding to the correct native state. It is…
Natural protein sequences that self-assemble to form globular structures are compact with high packing densities in the folded states. It is known that proteins unfold upon addition of denaturants, adopting random coil structures. The…
Protein folding cooperativity is defined by the nature of the finite-size thermodynamic transition exhibited upon folding: two-state transitions show a free energy barrier between the folded and unfolded ensembles, while downhill folding is…
The conformational dynamics of a single protein molecule in a shear flow is investigated using Brownian dynamics simulations. A structure-based coarse grained model of a protein is used. We consider two proteins, ubiquitin and integrin, and…