Sawtooth patterns in force-extension curves of biomolecules: An equilibrium-statistical-mechanics theory Articles uri icon

publication date

  • July 2013

start page

  • 1

end page

  • 4

issue

  • 012704

volume

  • 88

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 1539-3755

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1539-3755

abstract

  • We analyze the force-extension curve for a general class of systems, which are described at the mesoscopic level by a free energy depending on the extension of its components. Similarly to what is done in real experiments, the total length of the system is the controlled parameter. This imposes a global constraint in the minimization procedure leading to the equilibrium values of the extensions. As a consequence, the force-extension curve has multiple branches in a certain range of forces. The stability of these branches is governed by the free energy: there are a series of first-order phase transitions at certain values of the total length, in which the free energy itself is continuous but its first derivative, the force, has a finite jump. This behavior is completely similar to that observed in real experiments with biomolecules like proteins and with other complex systems.

keywords

  • systems; equality; physics; mathematical; free-energy differences; physics; fluids & plasmas