Related papers: Helices in Biomolecules
A fascinating and open question challenging biochemistry, physics and even geometry is the presence of highly regular motifs such as alpha-helices in the folded state of biopolymers and proteins. Stimulating explanations ranging from…
Biomolecular structures are assemblies of emergent anisotropic building modules such as uniaxial helices or biaxial strands. We provide an approach to understanding a marginally compact phase of matter that is occupied by proteins and DNA.…
The helix is a ubiquitous motif for biopolymers. We propose a heuristic, entropically based model that predicts helix formation in a system of hard spheres and semiflexible tubes. We find that the entropy of the spheres is maximized when…
Viruses are nanoscale entities containing a nucleic acid genome encased in a protein shell called a capsid, and in some cases surrounded by a lipid bilayer membrane. This review summarizes the physics that govern the processes by which…
Helices are the quintessential geometric motif of the microscale, from alpha-helices in proteins to double helices in DNA. Assembly of the helical geometry of biopolymers is a foundational step in a hierarchy of structure that eventually…
The shape of the building blocks plays a crucial role in directing self-assembly towards desired architectures. Out of the many different shapes, helix has a unique position. Helical structures are ubiquitous in nature and a helical shape…
Proteins are linear chain molecules that play a central role in life and health. Protein native state folds are modular assemblies of space-filling building blocks of {\alpha}-helices, \{beta}-sheets and tight turns. Here we deduce the…
The folding of a polypeptide is an example of the cooperative effects of the amino-acid residues. Of recent interest is how a secondary structure, such as a helix, spontaneously forms during the collapse of a peptide from an initial…
Like ordinary molecules are composed of atoms, colloidal molecules consist of several species of colloidal particles tightly bound together. If one of these components is self-propelled or swimming, novel "active colloidal molecules"…
The two pillars of Algebraic topology - Homology and homotopy theory rely on the availability of basic building blocks called cells. Cells take the form of simplexes, and have properties such as faces, sub-cells, convexity and…
Protein structure is generally conceptualized as the global arrangement or of smaller, local motifs of helices, sheets, and loops. These regular, recurring secondary structural elements have well-understood and standardized definitions in…
Pure and homogeneous biological macromolecules (i.e. proteins, nucleic acids, protein-protein or protein-nucleic acid complexes, and functional assemblies such as ribosomes and viruses) are the key for consistent and reliable biochemical…
Generic interactions e.g. the Coulomb or other long ranged radially symmetric repulsive interactions between monomers of bead-spring model of a semi-flexible polymer induce instabilities in a initially straight polymer chain to form long…
Living organisms have some common structures, chemical reactions and molecular structures. The organisms consist of cells with cell division, they have homochirality of protein and carbohydrate units, and metabolism, and genetics, and they…
The functionality of proteins is related to their structure in the native state. Protein structures are made up of emergent building blocks of helices and almost planar sheets. A simple coarse-grained geometrical model of a flexible tube…
Locomotion is essential for living cells. It enables bacteria and algae to explore space for food, cancer to spread, and immune system to fight infections. Motile cells display trajectories of intriguing complexity, from regular (e.g.…
In this paper we generalize the notion of helix in the three-dimensional Euclidean space, which we define as that curve $C$ for which there is an $F$-constant vector field $W$ along $C$ that forms a constant angle with a fixed direction $V$…
The native state structures of globular proteins are stable and well-packed indicating that self-interactions are favored over protein-solvent interactions under folding conditions. We use this as a guiding principle to derive the geometry…
Cellular membranes exhibit a large variety of shapes, strongly coupled to their function. Many biological processes involve dynamic reshaping of membranes, usually mediated by proteins. This interaction works both ways: while proteins…
Biomolecular condensates self-assemble when proteins and nucleic acids spontaneously demix to form droplets within the crowded intracellular milieu. This simple mechanism underlies the formation of a wide variety of membraneless…