dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaIdeal-Chain Collapse in Biopolymers
| Authors | Richard M. Neumann |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0011067 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0011067 |
Abstract
A conceptual difficulty in the Hooke's-law description of ideal Gaussian polymer-chain elasticity is sometimes apparent in analyses of experimental data or in physical models designed to simulate the behavior of biopolymers. The problem, the tendency of a chain to collapse in the absence of external forces, is examined in the following examples: DNA-stretching experiments, gel electrophoresis, and protein folding. We demonstrate that the application of a statistical-mechanically derived repulsive force, acting between the chain ends, whose magnitude is proportional to the absolute temperature and inversely proportional to the scalar end separation removes this difficulty.
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"abstract": "A conceptual difficulty in the Hooke\u0027s-law description of ideal Gaussian\npolymer-chain elasticity is sometimes apparent in analyses of experimental data\nor in physical models designed to simulate the behavior of biopolymers. The\nproblem, the tendency of a chain to collapse in the absence of external forces,\nis examined in the following examples: DNA-stretching experiments, gel\nelectrophoresis, and protein folding. We demonstrate that the application of a\nstatistical-mechanically derived repulsive force, acting between the chain\nends, whose magnitude is proportional to the absolute temperature and inversely\nproportional to the scalar end separation removes this difficulty.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0011067",
"authors": [
"Richard M. Neumann"
],
"categories": [
"physics.bio-ph",
"physics.chem-ph",
"q-bio.BM"
],
"title": "Ideal-Chain Collapse in Biopolymers",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0011067"
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