title: Statistical mechanics of the Huxley-Simmons model.
abstract: The chemomechanical model of Huxley and Simmons (HS) [A. F. Huxley and R. M. Simmons, Nature 233, 533 (1971)NATUAS0028-083610.1038/233533a0] provides a paradigmatic description of mechanically induced collective conformational changes relevant in a variety of biological contexts, from muscles power stroke and hair cell gating to integrin binding and hairpin unzipping. We develop a statistical mechanical perspective on the HS model by exploiting a formal analogy with a paramagnetic Ising model. We first study the equilibrium HS model with a finite number of elements and compute explicitly its mechanical and thermal properties. To model kinetics, we derive a master equation and solve it for several loading protocols. The developed formalism is applicable to a broad range of allosteric systems with mean-field interactions.
authors.affiliation: MSME, CNRS-UMR 8208, 61 Avenue du Général de Gaulle, 94010 Créteil, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caruel
authors.affiliation: LMS, CNRS-UMR 7649, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Truskinovsky