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Force-induced conformational transition in a system of interacting stiff polymers: Application to unfolding

Sanjay Kumar^*

Debaprasad Giri^†

Department of Physics, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India and Max-Planck-Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Noethnitzer, Strabe 38, D-01187, Dresden, Germany

Physics Section, MMV, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India

^*Electronic address: yashankit@yahoo.com
^†Electronic address: dgiri@bhu.ac.in

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Phys. Rev. E 72, 052901 – Published 2 November, 2005

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.72.052901

Abstract

We consider a stiff polymer chain in poor solvent and apply a force at one end of the chain. We find that by varying the stiffness parameter, the polymer undergoes a transition from the globule state to the foldedlike state. The conformation of the folded state mimics the $β$ sheet as seen in the titin molecule. Using the exact enumeration technique, we study the extension-force and force-temperature diagrams of such a system. The force-temperature diagram shows the re-entrance behavior for a flexible chain. However, for a stiff chain this re-entrance behavior is absent and there is an enhancement in $θ$ temperature with the rise of stiffness. We further propose that the internal information about the frozen structure of a polymer can be read from the distribution of end-to-end distance which shows a sawtoothlike behavior.

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Force-induced conformational transition in a system of interacting stiff polymers: Application to unfolding

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References (18)

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