Unfolding times for proteins in a force clamp
(2010) In Physical Review E (Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics) 81(1).- Abstract
- The escape process from the native valley for proteins subjected to a constant stretching force is examined using a model for a beta barrel. For a wide range of forces, the unfolding dynamics can be treated as one-dimensional diffusion, parametrized in terms of the end-to-end distance. In particular, the escape times can be evaluated as first passage times for a Brownian particle moving on the protein free-energy landscape, using the Smoluchowski equation. At strong forces, the unfolding process can be viewed as a diffusive drift away from the native state, while at weak forces thermal activation is the relevant mechanism. An escape-time analysis within this approach reveals a crossover from an exponential to an inverse Gaussian... (More)
- The escape process from the native valley for proteins subjected to a constant stretching force is examined using a model for a beta barrel. For a wide range of forces, the unfolding dynamics can be treated as one-dimensional diffusion, parametrized in terms of the end-to-end distance. In particular, the escape times can be evaluated as first passage times for a Brownian particle moving on the protein free-energy landscape, using the Smoluchowski equation. At strong forces, the unfolding process can be viewed as a diffusive drift away from the native state, while at weak forces thermal activation is the relevant mechanism. An escape-time analysis within this approach reveals a crossover from an exponential to an inverse Gaussian escape-time distribution upon passing from weak to strong forces. Moreover, a single expression valid at weak and strong forces can be devised both for the average unfolding time as well as for the corresponding variance. The analysis offers a possible explanation of recent experimental findings for the proteins ddFLN4 and ubiquitin. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1601083
- author
- Luccioli, Stefano ; Imparato, Alberto ; Mitternacht, Simon LU ; Irbäck, Anders LU and Torcini, Alessandro
- organization
- publishing date
- 2010
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Physical Review E (Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics)
- volume
- 81
- issue
- 1
- article number
- 010902
- publisher
- American Physical Society
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000277186100003
- scopus:76349091603
- pmid:20365316
- ISSN
- 1539-3755
- DOI
- 10.1103/PhysRevE.81.010902
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- fbe58c02-4b1d-48c3-8403-ac9f5b9ac5ed (old id 1601083)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 11:14:16
- date last changed
- 2024-01-07 10:59:39
@article{fbe58c02-4b1d-48c3-8403-ac9f5b9ac5ed, abstract = {{The escape process from the native valley for proteins subjected to a constant stretching force is examined using a model for a beta barrel. For a wide range of forces, the unfolding dynamics can be treated as one-dimensional diffusion, parametrized in terms of the end-to-end distance. In particular, the escape times can be evaluated as first passage times for a Brownian particle moving on the protein free-energy landscape, using the Smoluchowski equation. At strong forces, the unfolding process can be viewed as a diffusive drift away from the native state, while at weak forces thermal activation is the relevant mechanism. An escape-time analysis within this approach reveals a crossover from an exponential to an inverse Gaussian escape-time distribution upon passing from weak to strong forces. Moreover, a single expression valid at weak and strong forces can be devised both for the average unfolding time as well as for the corresponding variance. The analysis offers a possible explanation of recent experimental findings for the proteins ddFLN4 and ubiquitin.}}, author = {{Luccioli, Stefano and Imparato, Alberto and Mitternacht, Simon and Irbäck, Anders and Torcini, Alessandro}}, issn = {{1539-3755}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{1}}, publisher = {{American Physical Society}}, series = {{Physical Review E (Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics)}}, title = {{Unfolding times for proteins in a force clamp}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.81.010902}}, doi = {{10.1103/PhysRevE.81.010902}}, volume = {{81}}, year = {{2010}}, }