Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Pincus DL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3808530 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
The journal of physical chemistry. B 20130712 42
Using theoretical arguments and extensive Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of a coarse-grained three-dimensional off-lattice model of a β-hairpin, we demonstrate that the equilibrium critical force, Fc, needed to unfold the biopolymer increases nonlinearly with increasing volume fraction occupied by the spherical macromolecular crowding agent. Both scaling arguments and MC simulations show that the critical force increases as Fc ≈ φc(α). The exponent α is linked to the Flory exponent relating the si ...[more]