Related papers: Rupture of multiple parallel molecular bonds under…
The realization of molecular-based electronic devices depends to a large extent on the ability to mechanically stabilize the involved molecular bonds, while making use of efficient resonant charge transport through the device. Resonant…
Theoretical approaches are formulated to investigate the molecular mobility under various cooling rates of amorphous drugs. We describe the structural relaxation of a tagged molecule as a coupled process of cage-scale dynamics and…
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…
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…
Molecular dynamics simulations are performed to study the temperature-dependent dynamics and structures of the hydration shells of elastin-like and collagen-like peptides. For both model peptides, it is consistently observed that, upon…
Dynamic rupture propagation along an interface between two different elastic solids under shear dominated loading is studied numerically by a 2-D lattice particle model (LPM). The configuration of the lattice particle model consists of two…
Under an external field a double-stranded peptide chain can separate in a fragile or ductile transition. It is usually believed that these two regimes are driven either by chemical and thermal fields, or through non-local mechanical…
We consider a microscopic model for the failure of soft adhesives in tension based on ideas of bond rupture under dynamic loading. Focusing on adhesive failure under loading at constant velocity, we demonstrate that bi-modal curves of…
Cell adhesion complexes (CACs), which are activated by ligand binding, play key roles in many cellular functions ranging from cell cycle regulation to mediation of cell extracellular matrix adhesion. Inspired by single molecule pulling…
We present an extensive experimental study of mode-I, steady, slow crack dynamics in gelatin gels. Taking advantage of the sensitivity of the elastic stiffness to gel composition and history we confirm and extend the model for fracture of…
Cell membranes interact via anchored receptor and ligand molecules. Central questions on cell adhesion concern the binding affinity of these membrane-anchored molecules, the mechanisms leading to the receptor-ligand domains observed during…
Mechanical loading generally weakens adhesive structures and eventually leads to their rupture. However, biological systems can adapt to loads by strengthening adhesions, which is essential for maintaining the integrity of tissue and whole…
Single-molecule mechanical manipulation has enabled the quantitative understanding of the kinetics of bond ruptures as well as protein unfolding mechanism. Single-molecule experiments with theoretical models have allowed one to gain insight…
The friction and adhesion between elastic bodies are strongly influenced by the roughness of the surfaces in contact. Here we develop a multiscale molecular dynamics approach to contact mechanics, which can be used also when the surfaces…
The forced rupture of single chemical bonds under external load is addressed. A general framework is put forward to optimally utilize the experimentally observed rupture force data for estimating the parameters of a theoretical model. As an…
The strength of a simple soft bond under constant loading rate is studied theoretically. We find a scaling regime where rebinding is negligible and the rupture force of the bond scales as $const. + (\ln (kv))^{2/3}$, where $kv$ is the…
We study the forced rupture of adhesive contacts between monomers that are not covalently linked in a Rouse chain. When the applied force ($f$) to the chain end is less than the critical force for rupture ($f_c$), the {\it reversible}…
Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study structure formation in simple model polymer chains that are subject to excluded volume and torsional interactions. The changing conformations exhibited by chains of different lengths under…
We analyze the stability of micro-domains of ligand-receptor bonds that mediate the adhesion of biological model membranes. After evaluating the effects of membrane fluctuations on the binding affinity of a single bond, we characterize the…
A fiber bundle model in $(1+1)$-dimensions for the breaking of fibrous composite matrix is introduced. The model consists of $N$ parallel fibers fixed in two plates. When one of the plates is pulled in the direction parallel to the fibers,…