title: Stretching single-domain proteins: phase diagram and kinetics of force-induced unfolding.
abstract: Single-molecule force spectroscopy reveals unfolding of domains in titin on stretching. We provide a theoretical framework for these experiments by computing the phase diagrams for force-induced unfolding of single-domain proteins using lattice models. The results show that two-state folders (at zero force) unravel cooperatively, whereas stretching of non-two-state folders occurs through intermediates. The stretching rates of individual molecules show great variations reflecting the heterogeneity of force-induced unfolding pathways. The approach to the stretched state occurs in a stepwise "quantized" manner. Unfolding dynamics and forces required to stretch proteins depend sensitively on topology. The unfolding rates increase exponentially with force f till an optimum value, which is determined by the barrier to unfolding when f = 0. A mapping of these results to proteins shows qualitative agreement with force-induced unfolding of Ig-like domains in titin. We show that single-molecule force spectroscopy can be used to map the folding free energy landscape of proteins in the absence of denaturants.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Physical Science and Technology and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Klimov
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thirumalai
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D007700:Kinetics; D008956:Models, Chemical; D011489:Protein Denaturation; D017510:Protein Folding; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D013816:Thermodynamics; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins