title: Structural and folding properties of a lattice prion model.
abstract: Searching through and conducting Monte Carlo folding simulations on 10(6) different 27 mer sequences, we have selected a prionlike lattice model whose energy spectrum and folding properties demonstrate characteristic prion behavior. The energetic competition and structural partition between two closely spaced energy minima yield unique kinetic and thermodynamic properties that can be qualitatively compared with experimental results. Folding simulations indicate that the probability of reaching the first excited state from a denatured random conformation is much higher than the probability of reaching the global energy-minimum state.
mesh_terms: D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D007700:Kinetics; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D011328:Prions / Q000737:chemistry*; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017510:Protein Folding; D013816:Thermodynamics; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D011328:Prions