title: Unraveling proteins: a molecular mechanics study.
abstract: An internal coordinate molecular mechanics study of unfolding peptide chains by external stretching has been carried out to predict the type of force spectra that may be expected from single-molecule manipulation experiments currently being prepared. Rather than modeling the stretching of a given protein, we have looked at the behavior of simple secondary structure elements (alpha-helix, beta-ribbon, and interacting alpha-helices) to estimate the magnitude of the forces involved in their unfolding or separation and the dependence of these forces on the way pulling is carried out as well as on the length of the structural elements. The results point to a hierarchy of forces covering a surprisingly large range and to important orientational effects in the response to external stress.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, Paris 75005, France.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rohs
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Etchebest
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lavery
mesh_terms: D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry; D011489:Protein Denaturation; D017510:Protein Folding; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D009842:Oligopeptides; D010455:Peptides; D011506:Proteins; C019529:polyalanine