1999/02/16 by Cecilia Clementi, Clementi, Cecilia, Paolo Carloni +3
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #Biochemical and Molecular Research #Cancer-related gene regulation #Connective tissue disorders research #FOS: Biological sciences #FOS: Physical sciences #Quantitative Biology (q-bio) #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) #cond-mat.stat-mech #q-bio
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/9902227
submitted to "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA"
arxiv created 1999/02/16 · openalex publication_date 1999/02/16 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Fundamental questions about the role of the quaternary structures are addressed using a statistical mechanics off-lattice model of a dimer protein. The model, in spite of its simplicity, captures key features of the monomer-monomer interactions revealed by atomic force experiments. Force curves during association and dissociation are characterized by sudden jumps followed by smooth behavior and form hysteresis loops. Furthermore, the process is reversible in a finite range of temperature stabilizing the dimer. It is shown that in the interface between the two monomeric subunits the design procedure naturally favors those amino acids whose mutual interaction is stronger. Furthermore it is shown that the width of the hysteresis loop increases as the design procedure improves, i.e. stabilizes more the dimer.