title: Probing structural and dynamical transitions in polymer globules by force.
abstract: The dynamics of proteins and biopolymers play a crucial role in their function. By using Brownian dynamics we show that polymer globules, which serve as a model system for proteins, undergo a size-dependent dynamical transition from a liquid-like state at high T to a frozen state at low T with a relaxation time that diverges at the transition point. Furthermore, a stretch-induced melting transition is shown to be readily controlled by external forces that exploit the polymer connectivity to modify the size of the globule. This pathway could be a general route to enhance the rate of conformational changes in naturally occurring biopolymers.
authors: Department of Material Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue 12-009, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: Charles E
authors: CE
authors: Sing
authors: Thomas R
authors: TR
authors: Einert
authors: Roland R
authors: RR
authors: Netz
authors: Alfredo
authors: A
authors: Alexander-Katz