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Internal protein dynamics shifts the distance to the mechanical transition state

Daniel K. West, Emanuele Paci, Peter D. Olmsted

physics.bio-pharXiv:physics/0612183

Abstract

Mechanical unfolding of polyproteins by force spectroscopy provides valuable insight into their free energy landscapes. Most phenomenological models of the unfolding process are two-state and/or one dimensional, with the details of the protein and its dynamics often subsumed into a zero-force unfolding rate and a single distance xu1D to the transition state. We consider the entire phase space of a model protein under a constant force, and show that the distance xu1D contains a sizeable contribution from exploring the full multidimensional energy landscape. Proteins with more degrees of freedom are expected to have larger values for xu1D. We show that externally attached flexible linkers also contribute to the measured unfolding characteristics.

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