Loading device effect on protein unfolding mechanics.

Gwonchan Yoon, Sungsoo Na, Kilho Eom

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Republic of Korea.

The Journal of chemical physics 2012 Jul 14

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Single-molecule mechanical manipulation has enabled quantitative understanding of not only the kinetics of both bond rupture and protein unfolding, but also the free energy landscape of chemical bond and/or protein folding. Despite recent studies reporting the role of loading device in bond rupture, a loading device effect on protein unfolding mechanics has not been well studied. In this work, we have studied the effect of loading-device stiffness on the kinetics of both bond rupture and protein unfolding mechanics using Brownian dynamics simulations. It is shown that bond rupture forces are dependent on not only loading rate but also the stiffness of loading device, and that protein unfolding mechanics is highly correlated with the stiffness of loading device. Our study sheds light on the importance of loading device effect on the mechanically induced bond ruptures and protein unfolding.

Citation

Gwonchan Yoon, Sungsoo Na, Kilho Eom. Loading device effect on protein unfolding mechanics. The Journal of chemical physics. 2012 Jul 14;137(2):025102