19 research outputs found
Smoothening Transition of a Two-Dimensional Pressurized Polymer Ring
We revisit the problem of a two-dimensional polymer ring subject to an
inflating pressure differential. The ring is modeled as a freely jointed closed
chain of N monomers. Using a Flory argument, mean-field calculation and Monte
Carlo simulations, we show that at a critical pressure, , the
ring undergoes a second-order phase transition from a crumpled, random-walk
state, where its mean area scales as , to a smooth state with
. The transition belongs to the mean-field universality class. At
the critical point a new state of polymer statistics is found, in which
. For we use a transfer-matrix calculation to derive
exact expressions for the properties of the smooth state.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure
Electrostatic Interactions of Asymmetrically Charged Membranes
We predict the nature (attractive or repulsive) and range (exponentially
screened or long-range power law) of the electrostatic interactions of
oppositely charged and planar plates as a function of the salt concentration
and surface charge densities (whose absolute magnitudes are not necessarily
equal). An analytical expression for the crossover between attractive and
repulsive pressure is obtained as a function of the salt concentration. This
condition reduces to the high-salt limit of Parsegian and Gingell where the
interaction is exponentially screened and to the zero salt limit of Lau and
Pincus in which the important length scales are the inter-plate separation and
the Gouy-Chapman length. In the regime of low salt and high surface charges we
predict - for any ratio of the charges on the surfaces - that the attractive
pressure is long-ranged as a function of the spacing. The attractive pressure
is related to the decrease in counter-ion concentration as the inter-plate
distance is decreased. Our theory predicts several scaling regimes with
different scaling expressions for the pressure as function of salinity and
surface charge densities. The pressure predictions can be related to surface
force experiments of oppositely charged surfaces that are prepared by coating
one of the mica surfaces with an oppositely charged polyelectrolyte
Asymptotic Behavior of Inflated Lattice Polygons
We study the inflated phase of two dimensional lattice polygons with fixed
perimeter and variable area, associating a weight to a
polygon with area and bends. For convex and column-convex polygons, we
show that , where , and . The
constant is found to be the same for both types of polygons. We argue
that self-avoiding polygons should exhibit the same asymptotic behavior. For
self-avoiding polygons, our predictions are in good agreement with exact
enumeration data for J=0 and Monte Carlo simulations for . We also
study polygons where self-intersections are allowed, verifying numerically that
the asymptotic behavior described above continues to hold.Comment: 7 page
Modelling study of dimerization in mammalian defensins
BACKGROUND: Defensins are antimicrobial peptides of innate immunity functioning by non-specific binding to anionic phospholipids in bacterial membranes. Their cationicity, amphipathicity and ability to oligomerize are considered key factors for their action. Based on structural information on human β-defensin 2, we examine homologous defensins from various mammalian species for conserved functional physico-chemical characteristics. RESULTS: Based on homology greater than 40%, structural models of 8 homologs of HBD-2 were constructed. A conserved pattern of electrostatics and dynamics was observed across 6 of the examined defensins; models backed by energetics suggest that the defensins in these 6 organisms are characterized by dimerization-linked enhanced functional potentials. In contrast, dimerization is not energetically favoured in the sheep, goat and mouse defensins, suggesting that they function efficiently as monomers. CONCLUSION: β-defensin 2 from some mammals may work as monomers while those in others, including humans, work as oligomers. This could potentially be used to design human defensins that may be effective at lower concentrations and hence have therapeutic benefits