title: Direction-dependent mechanical unfolding and green fluorescent protein as a force sensor.
abstract: An Ising-like model of proteins is used to investigate the mechanical unfolding of the green fluorescent protein along different directions. When the protein is pulled from its ends, we recover the major and minor unfolding pathways observed in experiments. Upon varying the pulling direction, we find the correct order of magnitude and ranking of the unfolding forces. Exploiting the direction dependence of the unfolding force at equilibrium, we propose a force sensor whose luminescence depends on the applied force.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica and CNISM, Politecnico di Torino, c. Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino, Italy. michele.caraglio@polito.itv
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caraglio
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Imparato
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pelizzola
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation; D058767:Protein Unfolding
chemical_list: D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins