title: Drying-induced hydrophobic polymer collapse.
abstract: We have used computer simulation to study the collapse of a hydrophobic chain in water. We find that the mechanism of collapse is much like that of a first-order phase transition. The evaporation of water in the vicinity of the polymer provides the driving force for collapse, and the rate limiting step is the nucleation of a sufficiently large vapor bubble. The study is made possible through the application of transition path sampling and a coarse-grained treatment of liquid water. Relevance of our findings to understanding the folding and assembly of proteins is discussed.
authors: Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
authors: Pieter Rein
authors: PR
authors: ten Wolde
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Chandler
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D014867:Water