Toan, Ngo Minh, Marenduzzo, Davide and Micheletti, C. (Cristian) (2005) Inferring the diameter of a biopolymer from its stretching response. Biophysical Journal, Vol.89 (No.1). pp. 80-86. doi:10.1529/biophysj.104.058081 ISSN 0006-3495.

Preview

PDF WRAP_Toan_Inferring_diameter.pdf - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (176Kb)

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

We investigate the stretching response of a thick polymer model by means of extensive stochastic simulations. The computational results are synthesized in an analytic expression that characterizes how the force versus elongation curve depends on the polymer structural parameters: its thickness and granularity (spacing of the monomers). The expression is used to analyze experimental data for the stretching of various different types of biopolymers: polypeptides, polysaccharides, and nucleic acids. Besides recovering elastic parameters (such as the persistence length) that are consistent with those obtained from standard entropic models, the approach allows us to extract viable estimates for the polymers diameter and granularity. This shows that the basic structural polymer features have such a profound impact on the elastic behavior that they can be recovered with the sole input of stretching measurements.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	Q Science > QP Physiology
Divisions:	Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Mathematics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Biopolymers, Polymers -- Surfaces, Polymers -- Mathematical models
Journal or Publication Title:	Biophysical Journal
Publisher:	Biophysical Society
ISSN:	0006-3495
Official Date:	July 2005
Dates:	Date Event July 2005 Published
Volume:	Vol.89
Number:	No.1
Page Range:	pp. 80-86
DOI:	10.1529/biophysj.104.058081
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access (Creative Commons)
Funder:	Istituto Nazionale Fisica della Materia (INFM)

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads