Entropically Driven Helix Formation
arXiv:cond-mat/0502520 · doi:10.1126/science.1106243
Abstract
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 short stretches of the tube form a helix with a geometry close to that found in natural helices. Our model could be directly tested with wormlike micelles as the tubes, and the effect could be used to self-assemble supramolecular helices.
5 pages, one included figure
References in corpus (1)
Cited by in corpus (30)
- Effects of macromolecular crowding on the collapse of biopolymers
- Macromolecular crowding modulates folding mechanism of alpha/beta protein apoflavodoxin
- Depletion effects and loop formation in self-avoiding polymers
- Flow-Induced Helical Coiling of Semiflexible Polymers in Structured Microchannels
- Entropic forces stabilize diverse emergent structures in colloidal membranes
- Crowding effects on the structural transitions in a flexible helical homopolymer
- How soft repulsion enhances the depletion mechanism
- Structural motifs of biomolecules
- Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Depletion-Induced Interactions for Soft Matter Systems
- Helical Tubes in Crowded Environments
- Effective stiffness and formation of secondary structures in a protein-like model
- Building blocks of protein structures -- Physics meets Biology
- Thickness-dependent secondary structure formation of tubelike polymers
- Helix formation in linear achiral dendronized polymers. A computer simulation study
- Emergence of Secondary Motifs in Tube-Like Polymers in a Solvent
- Thermodynamics of tubelike flexible polymers
- Geometry of proteins: hydrogen bonding, sterics and marginally compact tubes
- Geometric and physical considerations for realistic protein models
- Polymer brush-induced depletion interactions and clustering of membrane proteins
- Solute particle near a nanopore: influence of size and surface properties on the solvent-mediated forces
- Constant spacing in filament bundles
- Geometry of flexible filament cohesion: Better contact through twist?
- Phase Diagram of Flexible Polymers with Quenched Disordered Charged Monomers
- Density of States for a Short Overlapping-Bead Polymer: Clues to a Mechanism for Helix Formation?
- Ground-state properties of tubelike flexible polymers
- Protein sequence and structure: Is one more fundamental than the other?
- Transient helix formation in semiflexible polymers without confinement effects
- Diffusion dynamics for an infinite system of two-type spheres and the associated depletion effect
- Shapes of hydrophobic thick membranes
- Helical buckling in columnar assemblies of soft discotic mesogens