scholarly journals A one-dimensional free energy surface does not account for two-probe folding kinetics of protein α3D

2009 ◽  
Vol 130 (6) ◽  
pp. 061101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Liu ◽  
Charles Dumont ◽  
Yongjin Zhu ◽  
William F. DeGrado ◽  
Feng Gai ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (37) ◽  
pp. 21340-21349
Author(s):  
Jiayan Xu ◽  
Hao Huang ◽  
P. Hu

To understand the mechanisms and kinetics of catalytic reactions in heterogeneous catalysis, ab initio molecular dynamics is one of the powerful methods used to explore the free energy surface (FES) of surface elementary steps.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Carlos Emiliano Buelna-Garcia ◽  
José Luis Cabellos ◽  
Jesus Manuel Quiroz-Castillo ◽  
Gerardo Martinez-Guajardo ◽  
Cesar Castillo-Quevedo ◽  
...  

The starting point to understanding cluster properties is the putative global minimum and all the nearby local energy minima; however, locating them is computationally expensive and difficult. The relative populations and spectroscopic properties that are a function of temperature can be approximately computed by employing statistical thermodynamics. Here, we investigate entropy-driven isomers distribution on Be6B11− clusters and the effect of temperature on their infrared spectroscopy and relative populations. We identify the vibration modes possessed by the cluster that significantly contribute to the zero-point energy. A couple of steps are considered for computing the temperature-dependent relative population: First, using a genetic algorithm coupled to density functional theory, we performed an extensive and systematic exploration of the potential/free energy surface of Be6B11− clusters to locate the putative global minimum and elucidate the low-energy structures. Second, the relative populations’ temperature effects are determined by considering the thermodynamic properties and Boltzmann factors. The temperature-dependent relative populations show that the entropies and temperature are essential for determining the global minimum. We compute the temperature-dependent total infrared spectra employing the Boltzmann factor weighted sums of each isomer’s infrared spectrum and find that at finite temperature, the total infrared spectrum is composed of an admixture of infrared spectra that corresponds to the spectra of the lowest-energy structure and its isomers located at higher energies. The methodology and results describe the thermal effects in the relative population and the infrared spectra.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1146
Author(s):  
Zuzanna Żołek-Tryznowska ◽  
Alicja Kałuża

Starch films can be used as materials for food packaging purposes. The goal of this study is to compare how the starch origin influence the selected starch film properties. The films were made from various starches such as that from maize, potato, oat, rice, and tapioca using 50%w of glycerine as a plasticizer. The obtained starch-based films were made using the well-known casting method from a starch solution in water. The properties of the films that were evaluated were tensile strength, water vapour transition rate, moisture content, wettability, and their surface free energy. Surface free energy (SFE) and its polar and dispersive components were calculated using the Owens-Wendt-Rabel-Kaelbe approach. The values of SFE in the range of 51.64 to 70.81 mJ∙m−2 for the oat starch-based film and the maize starch-based film. The films revealed worse mechanical properties than those of conventional plastics for packaging purposes. The results indicated that the poorest tensile strength was exhibited by the starch-based films made from oat (0.36 MPa) and tapioca (0.78 MPa) and the greatest tensile strength (1.49 MPa) from potato.


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (40) ◽  
pp. 26955-26968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshio Asada ◽  
Kanta Ando ◽  
Koji Sakurai ◽  
Shiro Koseki ◽  
Masataka Nagaoka

An efficient approach to evaluate free energy gradients within the QM/MM framework has been proposed to clarify reaction processes on the free energy surface.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoru Fukuhara ◽  
Yasushi Shibuta

Initial cap formation is an important process of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) growth where hexagonal carbon network is lifted off from the catalyst surface. In this study, free energy surface (FES)...


2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (46) ◽  
pp. e2115113118
Author(s):  
Ved P. Tiwari ◽  
Yuki Toyama ◽  
Debajyoti De ◽  
Lewis E. Kay ◽  
Pramodh Vallurupalli

Conformational dynamics play critical roles in protein folding, misfolding, function, misfunction, and aggregation. While detecting and studying the different conformational states populated by protein molecules on their free energy surfaces (FESs) remain a challenge, NMR spectroscopy has emerged as an invaluable experimental tool to explore the FES of a protein, as conformational dynamics can be probed at atomic resolution over a wide range of timescales. Here, we use chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) to detect “invisible” minor states on the energy landscape of the A39G mutant FF domain that exhibited “two-state” folding kinetics in traditional experiments. Although CEST has mostly been limited to studies of processes with rates between ∼5 to 300 s−1 involving sparse states with populations as low as ∼1%, we show that the line broadening that is often associated with minor state dips in CEST profiles can be exploited to inform on additional conformers, with lifetimes an order of magnitude shorter and populations close to 10-fold smaller than what typically is characterized. Our analysis of CEST profiles that exploits the minor state linewidths of the 71-residue A39G FF domain establishes a folding mechanism that can be described in terms of a four-state exchange process between interconverting states spanning over two orders of magnitude in timescale from ∼100 to ∼15,000 μs. A similar folding scheme is established for the wild-type domain as well. The study shows that the folding of this small domain proceeds through a pair of sparse, partially structured intermediates via two discrete pathways on a volcano-shaped FES.


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