Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Jamming Proteins with Slipknots and Their Free Energy Landscape

2010; Elsevier BV; Volume: 98; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.bpj.2009.12.1285

1542-0086

Joanna I. Sułkowska, Piotr Sułkowski, José N. Onuchic,

Cellular Mechanics and Interactions

Theoretical studies of stretching proteins with slipknots reveal a surprising growth of their lifetimes when a stretching force is increased to an intermediate range. We explain this behavior as arising from different unfolding routes at small and large forces. Responsible for longer lifetimes at higher forces is the existence of an intermediate, metastable configuration with the slipknot jammed. Our studies are based on simulations performed within a coarsed grained model and quantified using a refined description of the geometry of the slipknots. This allows us to determine the free energy landscape (FEL) of the protein, which supports recent analytical predictions.