1,738 research outputs found
Helicase processivity and not the unwinding velocity exhibits universal increase with force
Helicases, involved in a number of cellular functions, are motors that
translocate along singlestranded nucleic acid and couple the motion to
unwinding double-strands of a duplex nucleic acid. The junction between double
and single strands creates a barrier to the movement of the helicase, which can
be manipulated in vitro by applying mechanical forces directly on the nucleic
acid strands. Single molecule experiments have demonstrated that the unwinding
velocities of some helicases increase dramatically with increase in the
external force, while others show little response. In contrast, the unwinding
processivity always increases when the force increases. The differing responses
of the unwinding velocity and processivity to force has lacked explanation. By
generalizing a previous model of processive unwinding by helicases, we provide
a unified framework for understanding the dependence of velocity and
processivity on force and the nucleic acid sequence. We predict that the
sensitivity of unwinding processivity to external force is a universal feature
that should be observed in all helicases. Our prediction is illustrated using
T7 and NS3 helicases as case studies. Interestingly, the increase in unwinding
processivity with force depends on whether the helicase forces base pair
opening by direct interaction or if such a disruption occurs spontaneously due
to thermal uctuations. Based on the theoretical results, we propose that
proteins like single-strand binding proteins associated with helicases in the
replisome, may have co-evolved with helicases to increase the unwinding
processivity even if the velocity remains unaffected
Refolding dynamics of stretched biopolymers upon force quench
Single molecule force spectroscopy methods can be used to generate folding
trajectories of biopolymers from arbitrary regions of the folding landscape. We
illustrate the complexity of the folding kinetics and generic aspects of the
collapse of RNA and proteins upon force quench, using simulations of an RNA
hairpin and theory based on the de Gennes model for homopolymer collapse. The
folding time, , depends asymmetrically on and
where () is the stretch (quench) force, and
is the transition mid-force of the RNA hairpin. In accord with
experiments, the relaxation kinetics of the molecular extension, , occurs
in three stages: a rapid initial decrease in the extension is followed by a
plateau, and finally an abrupt reduction in that occurs as the native
state is approached.
The duration of the plateau increases as decreases
(where is the time in which the force is reduced from to ).
Variations in the mechanisms of force quench relaxation as is altered
are reflected in the experimentally measurable time-dependent entropy, which is
computed directly from the folding trajectories. An analytical solution of the
de Gennes model under tension reproduces the multistage stage kinetics in
. The prediction that the initial stages of collapse should also be a
generic feature of polymers is validated by simulation of the kinetics of
toroid (globule) formation in semiflexible (flexible) homopolymers in poor
solvents upon quenching the force from a fully stretched state. Our findings
give a unified explanation for multiple disparate experimental observations of
protein folding.Comment: 31 pages 11 figure
Fluctuations of a driven membrane in an electrolyte
We develop a model for a driven cell- or artificial membrane in an
electrolyte. The system is kept far from equilibrium by the application of a DC
electric field or by concentration gradients, which causes ions to flow through
specific ion-conducting units (representing pumps, channels or natural pores).
We consider the case of planar geometry and Debye-H\"{u}ckel regime, and obtain
the membrane equation of motion within Stokes hydrodynamics. At steady state,
the applied field causes an accumulation of charges close to the membrane,
which, similarly to the equilibrium case, can be described with renormalized
membrane tension and bending modulus. However, as opposed to the equilibrium
situation, we find new terms in the membrane equation of motion, which arise
specifically in the out-of-equilibrium case. We show that these terms lead in
certain conditions to instabilities.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. submitted to Europhys. Let
Charge-Fluctuation-Induced Non-analytic Bending Rigidity
In this Letter, we consider a neutral system of mobile positive and negative
charges confined on the surface of curved films. This may be an appropriate
model for: i) a highly charged membrane whose counterions are confined to a
sheath near its surface; ii) a membrane composed of an equimolar mixture of
anionic and cationic surfactants in aqueous solution. We find that the charge
fluctuations contribute a non-analytic term to the bending rigidity that varies
logarithmically with the radius of curvature. This may lead to spontaneous
vesicle formation, which is indeed observed in similar systems.Comment: Revtex, 9 pages, no figures, submitted to PR
Screening by symmetry of long-range hydrodynamic interactions of polymers confined in sheets
Hydrodynamic forces may significantly affect the motion of polymers. In
sheet-like cavities, such as the cell's cytoplasm and microfluidic channels,
the hydrodynamic forces are long-range. It is therefore expected that that
hydrodynamic interactions will dominate the motion of polymers in sheets and
will be manifested by Zimm-like scaling. Quite the opposite, we note here that
although the hydrodynamic forces are long-range their overall effect on the
motion of polymers vanishes due to the symmetry of the two-dimensional flow. As
a result, the predicted scaling of experimental observables such as the
diffusion coefficient or the rotational diffusion time is Rouse-like, in accord
with recent experiments. The effective screening validates the use of the
non-interacting blobs picture for polymers confined in a sheet.Comment: http://www.weizmann.ac.il/complex/tlusty/papers/Macromolecules2006.pdf
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ma060251
Surface Shape and Local Critical Behaviour in Two-Dimensional Directed Percolation
Two-dimensional directed site percolation is studied in systems directed
along the x-axis and limited by a free surface at y=\pm Cx^k. Scaling
considerations show that the surface is a relevant perturbation to the local
critical behaviour when k<1/z where z=\nu_\parallel/\nu is the dynamical
exponent. The tip-to-bulk order parameter correlation function is calculated in
the mean-field approximation. The tip percolation probability and the fractal
dimensions of critical clusters are obtained through Monte-Carlo simulations.
The tip order parameter has a nonuniversal, C-dependent, scaling dimension in
the marginal case, k=1/z, and displays a stretched exponential behaviour when
the perturbation is relevant. The k-dependence of the fractal dimensions in the
relevant case is in agreement with the results of a blob picture approach.Comment: 13 pages, Plain TeX file, epsf, 6 postscript-figures, minor
correction
Adiabatic-antiadiabatic crossover in a spin-Peierls chain
We consider an XXZ spin-1/2 chain coupled to optical phonons with non-zero
frequency . In the adiabatic limit (small ), the chain is
expected to spontaneously dimerize and open a spin gap, while the phonons
become static. In the antiadiabatic limit (large ), phonons are
expected to give rise to frustration, so that dimerization and formation of
spin-gap are obtained only when the spin-phonon interaction is large enough. We
study this crossover using bosonization technique. The effective action is
solved both by the Self Consistent Harmonic Approximation (SCHA)and by
Renormalization Group (RG) approach starting from a bosonized description. The
SCHA allows to analyze the lowfrequency regime and determine the coupling
constant associated with the spin-Peierls transition. However, it fails to
describe the SU(2) invariant limit. This limit is tackled by the RG. Three
regimes are found. For , where is the gap in
the static limit , the system is in the adiabatic regime, and
the gap remains of order . For , the system enters
the antiadiabatic regime, and the gap decreases rapidly as
increases. Finally, for , where is an
increasing function of the spin phonon coupling, the spin gap vanishes via a
Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. Our results are discussed in
relation with numerical and experimental studies of spin-Peierls systems.Comment: Revtex, 21 pages, 5 EPS figures (v1); 23 pages, 6 EPS figures, more
detailed comparison with ED results, referenes added (v2
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