| 1. |
- Kapla, Jon, 1979-
(författare)
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Computer Simulations of Membrane–Sugar Interactions
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Carbohydrate molecules are essential parts of living cells. They are used as energy storage and signal substances, and they can be found incorporated in the cell membranes as attachments to glycoproteins and glycolipids, but also as free molecules. In this thesis the effect of carbohydrate molecules on phospholipid model membranes have been investigated by the means of Molecular Dynamics (MD) computer simulations.The most abundant glycolipid in nature is the non-bilayer forming monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG). It is known to be important for the membrane stacking typical for the thylakoid membranes in plants, and has also been found essential for processes related to photosynthesis. In Paper I, MD simulations were used to characterize structural and dynamical changes in a lipid bilayer when MGDG is present. The simulations were validated by direct comparisons between dipolar couplings calculated from the MD trajectories, and those determined from NMR experiments on similar systems. We could show that most structural changes of the bilayer were a consequence of lipid packing and the molecular shape of MGDG.In certain plants and organisms, the enrichment of small sugars such as sucrose and trehalose close to the membrane interfaces, are known to be one of the strategies to survive freezing and dehydration. The cryoprotecting abilities of these sugar molecules are long known, but the mechanisms at the molecular level are still debated. In Papers II–IV, the interactions of trehalose with a lipid bilayer were investigated. Calculations of structural and dynamical properties, together with free energy calculations, were used to characterize the effect of trehalose on bilayer properties. We could show that the binding of trehalose to the lipid bilayer follows a simple two state binding model, in agreement with recent experimental investigations, and confirm some of the proposed hypotheses for membrane–sugar interactions. The simulations were validated by dipolar couplings from our NMR investigations of TRH in a dilute liquid crystal (bicelles). Furthermore, the assumption about molecular structure being equal in the ordered and isotropic phases was tested and verified. This assumption is central for the interpretation of experimentally determined dipolar couplings in weakly ordered systems.In addition, a coarse grain model was used to tackle some of the problems with slow dynamics that were encountered for trehalose in interaction with the bilayer. It was found that further developments of the interaction models are needed to properly describe the membrane–sugar interactions. Lastly, from investigations of trehalose curvature sensing, we concluded that it preferably interacts in bilayer regions with high negative curvature.
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| 2. |
- Mirzoev, Alexander, 1984-
(författare)
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Multiscale simulations of soft matter: systematic structure-based coarse-graining approach
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The soft matter field considers a wide class of objects such as liquids, polymers, gels, colloids, liquid crystals and biological macromolecules, which have complex internal structure and conformational flexibility leading to phenomena and properties having multiple spacial and time scales. Existing computer simulation methods are able to cover these scales, but with different resolutions, and ability to link them together performing a multiscale simulation is highly desirable.The present work addresses systematic multiscaling approach for soft matter studies, using structure-based coarse-graining (CG) methods such as iterative Boltzmann inversion and inverse Monte Carlo. A new software package MagiC implementing these methods is introduced. The software developed for the purpose of effective CG potential derivation is applied for ionic water solution and for water solution of DMPC lipids. A thermodynamic transferability of the obtained potentials is studied.The effective inter-ionic solvent mediated potentials derived for NaCl successfully reproduce structural properties obtained in explicit solvent simulation, which indicates the perspectives of using the structure-based coarse-graining for studies of ion-DNA and other polyelectrolytes systems. The potentials have temperature dependence, dominated mostly by the electrostatic long-range part which can be described by temperature dependent effective dielectric permittivity, leaving the short-range part of the potential thermodynamically transferable.For CG simulations of lipids a 10-bead water-free model of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine is introduced. Four atomistic reference systems, having different lipid/water ratio are used to derive the effective bead-bead potentials, which are used for subsequent coarse-grained simulations of lipid bilayer. A significant influence of lipid/water ratio in the reference system on the properties of the simulated bilayers is noted, however it can be softened by additional angle-bending interactions. At the same time the obtained bilayers have stable structure with correct density profiles. The model provides acceptable agreement between properties of coarse-grained and atomistic bilayer, liquid crystal - gel phase transition with temperature change, as well as realistic self-aggregation behavior, which results in formation of bilayer, bicell or vesicle from a dispersed lipid solution in a large-scale simulation.
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| 3. |
- Elías-Wolff, Federico, 1983-
(författare)
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A computational approach to curvature sensing in lipid bilayers
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Local curvature is a key driving force for spatial organization of cellular membranes, via a phenomenon known as membrane curvature sensing, where the binding energy of membrane associated macromolecules depends on the local membrane shape. However, the microscopic mechanisms of curvature sensing are not well understood. Molecular dynamics simulations offer a powerful complement to biochemical experiments, yet their contribution to the study of curvature sensing has been limited, due in part to the lack of efficient methods, not least because of methodological difficulties in dealing with curved membranes. We develop a method based on simulated buckling, which has been previously employed to study mechanical properties of membranes. Here, we describe, validate and evaluate this method. We then apply to study curvature sensing properties of three model systems, using coarse-grained simulations. On the first system, we study lipid sorting in a three-component lipid mixture with emphasis on cardiolipin. We find that if curvature is high, curvature sensing is strong enough to drive cardiolipin molecules to negative curvature regions, outcompeting other lipids, without the need of external interactions or cooperative effects. We then simulated three systems consisting of a short amphipathic peptide attached to the surface of a buckled membrane. All three peptides localize to positive curvature, in agreement with the so-called cylindrical hydrophobic insertion mechanism. Their orientational preferences, however, defy the prediction of alignment perpendicular to the direction of maximum curvature. They also fail to show expected symmetries, indicating there is more to the picture than purely shape-based effects. The curvature sensing probe of the next system is a transmembrane trimeric protein, which shows preference to intermediate curvature, in agreement with theoretical predictions. But the lack of an expected 2-fold rotation symmetry indicates that the trimer senses the local curvature gradient, and not just the point-wise local curvature. Finally, dispensing with the buckling methodology, we simulated a series of symmetric transmembrane multimers embedded in cylindrical bilayers. Based on the results of these simulations and theoretical arguments, we discuss the relationship between structural symmetry and curvature sensitivity. We conclude that anisotropic (i.e. orientation-dependent) curvature sensing is strongly limited by odd and high order rotational symmetries. However, measurements of in-plane orientation on peptides and asymmetric proteins, as well as dimers and tetramers, should yield valuable information. Our method, along with our initial conclusions, provides an useful tool for the understanding of the relationship between membrane shape and membrane protein function, and should prove useful to biophysicists in the design and interpretation of experimental curvature sensing assays.
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| 4. |
- Ermilova, Inna, 1983-
(författare)
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Modeling of biomembranes: from computational toxicology to simulations of neurodegenerative diseases
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- It was known from the middle of the last century that a cell-membrane is a lipid bilayer. Since that time a large number of experimental studies has been done in order to see how a certain molecule can penetrate through a membrane. Due to the complexity of laboratory experiments computational chemistry became a convenient tool for investigations involving this process. In a real life a compound has to pass through several membranes of different chemical composition before reaching the actual target. Such a diversity in constitution gives a various selectivity to cell-membranes: some molecules will penetrate through them and others will not. That is why the development and a choice of suitable models for lipid bilayers are important steps in such a research. In this thesis new all-atomistic models for polyunsaturated phospholipids in cis conformations have been derived and added to the SLipids force field. After a successful force field validation, the new lipid models were used in molecular dynamics and well-tempered metadynamics simulations of several problems, such as toxicity of hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (OH-PBDE), behavior of cholesterol in various membranes, an aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides. The significance of the presence of lipid unsaturation has been demonstrated by all computations. 2’-OH-BDE68 (ortho) showed the affinity to saturated lipid bilayer, but had more conformational variations in the center of the unsaturated membrane. Cholesterol did not exhibit the preference to polynsaturated lipid bilayers from free energy calculations, but the diversity in orientations of this molecule, depending on its locations was observed. The behavior of Aβ peptides was dependent on membrane saturation as well. The insertion of Aβ peptides was detected in lipid bilayers containing higher amounts of polyunsaturated phospholipids, while in systems with more saturated membranes amyloids aggregated on membrane surfaces. Moreover, a comparison of simulations for quadro- and mono-component lipid bilayers showed that the membrane built of 18:0-22:6 PC can serve as a good model for the ’healthy’ tissue of a human brain. Also the lipid bilayer built of 14:0-14:0 PC exhibited similar features as the quadro-lipid membrane representing the brain tissue affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Good agreement of some computational results with available experimental findings demonstrated the applicability of computer simulations to real life problems.
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| 5. |
- Högberg, Carl-Johan, 1972-
(författare)
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Molecular Dynamics Investigations of Structure and Dynamics of Lipid Bilayers and Associated Anesthetics
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Detailed understanding of lipid bilayers are of tremendous importance due to their role in many biological processes. This Thesis focuses on structural and dynamical properties of lipid bilayers and their interactions with locally acting anesthetics, studied by Molecular Dynamics simulations.The effect of dehydration of a lipid bilayer is a biologically important phenomenon which was investigated by detailed examination of a number of structural and dynamical lipid parameters at different levels of hydration. The result shows that whereas the structural properties of the bilayer only moderately depend on the degree of hydration, the dynamics of the system is affected very strongly.Related to changes in the bilayer caused by hydration are structural and dynamical changes caused by the presence of anesthetics. Lidocaine is a common, locally acting anesthetic that interacts with lipid bilayers. The difference in position, orientation and diffusional behavior for charged and uncharged lidocaine was examined. The overall results indicate a rather restricted motion, determined by the lipids for the charged lidocaine, whereas the uncharged molecules are more free to diffuse in the lateral direction, as well as able to cross the bilayer.For membrane associated anesthetics, the effect on the bilayer electrostatic potential when introducing anesthetic compounds could contribute to the anesthetic effect. When the change in electrostatic potential and headgroup orientation was examined, both properties were found to be changed by charged as well as uncharged lidocaine. Surprisingly, the potentials in the middle part of the bilayer were almost the same for the charged and uncharged form of lidocaine. The suggested explanation for this is that the uncharged lidocaine gives a significant contribution to the electrostatic potential due to its orientation.Knowledge about the three dimensional structure and structural changes of the lipids in a bilayer is an important biological question. The validity of a method based on the additive potential and maximum entropy model applied to a lipid bilayer was investigated by comparing distributions for two torsion angles extracted from simulations with their corresponding distributions received from the combined model. The results indicates that this new method could be used as a tool for interpretation of experimental data in bilayer systems.For better correspondence with experiment, a calibration of the CHARMM force field was conducted by changing interactions in the lipid tails and charges in the lipid head group. With these new parameters, the simulations gave a fraction of gauche conformations in the lipid tails close to the experimentally determined value, and a very good experimental agreement for the area per lipid, electron density, X-ray structure factor, and NMR order parameters.
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| 6. |
- Jämbeck, Joakim P. M., 1986-
(författare)
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Computer Simulations of Heterogenous Biomembranes
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Molecular modeling has come a long way during the past decades and in the current thesis modeling of biological membranes is the focus. The main method of choice has been classical Molecular Dynamics simulations and for this technique a model Hamiltonian, or force field (FF), has been developed for lipids to be used for biological membranes. Further, ways of more accurately simulate the interactions between solutes and membranes have been investigated.A FF coined Slipids was developed and validated against a range of experimental data (Papers I-III). Several structural properties such as area per lipid, scattering form factors and NMR order parameters obtained from the simulations are in good agreement with available experimental data. Further, the compatibility of Slipids with amino acid FFs was proven. This, together with the wide range of lipids that can be studied, makes Slipids an ideal candidate for large-scale studies of biologically relevant systems.A solute's electron distribution is changed as it is transferred from water to a bilayer, a phenomena that cannot be fully captured with fixed-charge FFs. In Paper IV we propose a scheme of implicitly including these effects with fixed-charge FFs in order to more realistically model water-membrane partitioning. The results are in good agreement with experiments in terms of free energies and further the differences between using this scheme and the more traditional approach were highlighted.The free energy landscape (FEL) of solutes embedded in a model membrane is explored in Paper V. This was done using biased sampling methods with a reaction coordinate that included intramolecular degrees of freedom (DoF). These DoFs were identified in different bulk liquids and then used in studies with bilayers. The FELs describe the conformational changes necessary for the system to follow the lowest free energy path. Besides this, the pitfalls of using a one-dimensional reaction coordinate are highlighted.
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| 7. |
- Liang, Lijun, 1987-
(författare)
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Computational studies of DNA sequencing with graphene nanopores
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of DNA sequencing is to obtain the order of DNA composition comprising the base pairs A (adenine) T (thymine), and C (cytosine) G (guanine). The fast development of DNA sequencing technology allows us to better understand the relationships among diseases, inheritance, and individuality. Solid state nanopores have been recommended as the next generation platform for DNA sequencing due to its low-cost and high-throughput. In particular, nanopores fabricated from graphene sheets are extremely thin and structurally robust and have been extensively used in DNA detection in recent years. In DNA sequencing, the translocation of a DNA molecule through a nanopore is known to be a very complicated issue and is affected by many factors, such as ion concentration, thickness of the nanopore, and the nanopore diameter. The technique of molecular dynamic simulations has been a complementary tool to study DNA translocation through nanopores. In this thesis, I summarize my work of computational studies of DNA sequencing using graphene nanopores. These studies include: DNA translocation through single-layer graphene nanopores of different diameters under conditions of various ion concentrations and applied voltages; DNA translocation through multilayer graphene nanopores varied from a single to a few layers; pulling out single strand DNA molecules from small graphene nanopores of different geometries. The major contributions of this work include:1. Effects of bias voltage on DNA translocation time were investigated leading to the insight that lower applied voltages can extend the time of DNA translocation through monolayer graphene nanopores. The effect of salt concentration on the corresponding ionic current was studied. At a low ionic concentration (< 0.3M), the current increases as DNA translocates through a nanopore. However, at a high ionic concentration (>0.5M), the current decreases as DNA translocates through the nanopore. A theoretical model was proposed to explore the relationship between the current and the occupied nanopore area. We demonstrated that the DNA translocation time can be prolonged by narrowing the diameter of a nanopore properly and the reduction of the blockade current depends on the ratio of the unoccupied nanopore area to the total nanopore area.2. DNA translocation through multilayer graphene nanopores was studied by molecular dynamics simulations with the aim to achieve single-base resolution. We show that the DNA translocation time can be extended by increasing the graphene layers up to a moderate number (7) and that the current in DNA translocation undergoes a stepwise change upon DNA going through an multi-layer graphene (MLG) nanopore. A model was built to account for the relationship between the current change and the unoccupied volume of the MLG nanopore. We demonstrate that the blockade current is closely related to the unoccupied volume. The dynamics of DNA translocation depends specifically on the interaction of nucleotides with the graphene sheet. Thus, our study indicates that the resolution of DNA detection can be improved by increasing the number of graphene layers in a certain range and by modifying the surface of graphene nanopores.3. The effect of graphene nanopore geometry on DNA sequencing has been assessed by steered molecular dynamics simulations. DNA fragments including A, T, C, G and 5-methylcytosine (MC) were pulled through graphene nanopores of different geometries with diameters down to ~1nm by steered molecular dynamics simulations. We demonstrated that the bases (A, T, C, G, and MC) can be indentified in single-base resolution by the characteristic force peak values in a circular graphene nanopore but not in graphene nanopores of other geometries. Symmetric nanopores are thus better suited to DNA sequence detection via force curves than asymmetric nanopores. This implies that the graphene nanopore surface should be modified as symmetric as possible to sequence DNA by an atomic force microscope or optical tweezers. This helps us to understand low-cost and time-efficient DNA sequencing in narrow nanopores.4. The translocation time for different nucleotides to pass through graphene nanopores with certain diameters was investigated. It was found that the translocation times are different for different bases under a low electric field. The results indicate that DNA can be sequenced by the translocation time to pass through a graphene nanopore.5. Inspired by the structure of K+ channel proteins, a series of oxygen doped graphene nanopores of different size were designed to discriminate the transport of K+ and Na+ ions. The results indicate that the ion selectivity of such biomimetic graphene nanopores can be simply controlled by the size of the nanopore. Compared to K+, the smaller radius of Na+ leads to a much higher free energy barrier in the nanopore of a certain size.
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| 8. |
- Rajarathinam, Kayathri, 1983-
(författare)
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Nutraceuticals based computational medicinal chemistry
- 2013
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In recent years, the edible biomedicinal products called nutraceuticals have been becoming more popular among the pharmaceutical industries and the consumers. In the process of developing nutraceuticals, in silico approaches play an important role in structural elucidation, receptor-ligand interactions, drug designing etc., that critically help the laboratory experiments to avoid biological and financial risk. In this thesis, three nutraceuticals possessing antimicrobial and anticancer activities have been studied. Firstly, a tertiary structure was elucidated for a coagulant protein (MO2.1) of Moringa oleifera based on homology modeling and also studied its oligomerization that is believed to interfere with its medicinal properties. Secondly, the antimicrobial efficiency of a limonoid from neem tree called ‘azadirachtin’ was studied with a bacterial (Proteus mirabilis) detoxification agent, glutathione S-transferase, to propose it as a potent drug candidate for urinary tract infections. Thirdly, sequence specific binding activity was analyzed for a plant alkaloid called ‘palmatine’ for the purpose of developing intercalators in cancer therapy. Cumulatively, we have used in silico methods to propose the structure of an antimicrobial peptide and also to understand the interactions between protein and nucleic acids with these nutraceuticals.
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| 9. |
- Agosta, Lorenzo, 1986-
(författare)
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Atomistic simulations of structural and dynamical properties of liquids under geometric constraints
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The statistical-mechanical description of liquids represents a formidable problem in physic due to the absence of the analytical theory of the liquid state. Atomistic simulations represent a unique source of information in this respect and can be implemented in order address macroscopically measurable liquid properties, including its structure and dynamics, based on the information of the interactions between its constituent molecules. A particularly intriguing challenge is represented by the problem of studying liquids under geometric constraints like surfaces, or where the dimensionality is strongly suppressed like for liquids in 2 dimensions. Experimental measurements cannot access to these regions due to the resolution limitations. In this thesis the study of confined liquids is achieved by particle-based simulations at different level of theory. In particular 3 study cases are considered: the first is the characterization of solid-liquid interfaces. The problem of adsorbing surfaces is treated as a specific case of inorganic surfaces in contact with liquid water. TiO2, chosen as reference material, is studied in its polymorphic structures in aqueous conditions. The surface reactivity and its influence on the liquid structure is solved considering the quantum nature of the system. The mechanism of a solute adsorbing at the interface, considering the interfacial liquid properties, is also addressed. New advanced analysis tools for determining the structural and dynamical properties of water under a surface confinement and the thermodynamic associated to relative adsorption processes are developed. We are confident that this study will represent a mile stone for a systematic study of complex environments as bio-inorganic interfaces. As second case a liquid confined in a 2D surface is studied. Simple liquids having spherically symmetric interaction are very powerful in order to understand the relevant degrees of freedom that governs a certain physical process. Here we expand the definition of 2D hexatic phases to smectic systems in 3D. Finally the self-assembly of a triply periodic mesophase having a Fddd space symmetry group is fully characterized for a simple liquid. This phase can be thought as a geometrical reduction to a two-dimensional separation surface. The possibility of generating such complex network with simple particles, like in colloids, opens the frontiers for the exploration of new materials and applications.
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| 10. |
- Marushchak, Denys, 1981-
(författare)
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Fluorescence studies of complex systems : organisation of biomolecules
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The homo and hetero dimerisation of two spectroscopically different chromophores were studied, namely: 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diazas-indacene (g-BODIPY) and its 5-styryl-derivative (r-BODIPY). Various spectroscopic properties of the r-BODIPY in different common solvents were determined. It was shown that g- and r-BODIPY in the ground state can form homo- as well as hetero dimers. We demonstrate that the ganglioside GM1 in lipid bilayers of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) exhibits a non-uniform lateral distribution, which is an argument in favour of self-aggregation of GM1 being an intrinsic property of the GM1. This was concluded from energy transfer/migration studies of BODIPY-labelled gangliosides. An algorithm is presented that quantitatively accounts for donor–donor energy migration (DDEM) among fluorophore-labelled proteins forming regular non-covalent polymers. The DDEM algorithm is based on Monte Carlo (MC) and Brownian dynamics (BD) simulations and applies to the calculation of fluorescence depolarisation data, such as the fluorescence anisotropy. Thereby local orientations, as well as reorienting motions of the fluorescent groups are considered in the absence and presence of DDEM among them. A new method, in which a genetic algorithm (GA) was combined with BD and MC simulations, was developed to analyse fluorescence depolarisation data collected by the time-correlated single photon counting technique. It was applied to study g-BODIPY-labelled filamentous actin (F-actin). The technique registered the local order and reorienting motions of the fluorophores, which were covalently coupled to cysteine 374 (C374) in actin and interacted by means of electronic energy migration within the polymer. Analyses of F-actin samples composed of different fractions of labelled actin molecules revealed the known helical organiszation of F-actin, and demonstrated the usefulness of this technique for structure determination of complex protein polymers. The distance from the filament axis to the fluorophore was found to be considerably less than expected from the proposed position of C374 at a high filament radius. In addition, polymerisation experiments with BODIPY-actin suggest a 25-fold more efficient signal for filament formation than pyrene-actin.
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| 11. |
- Siretskiy, Alexey
(författare)
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Monte Carlo Simulations of the Equilibrium Properties of Semi-stiff Polymer Chains : Efficient Sampling from Compact to Extended Structures
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Polymers is a class of molecules which can have many different structures due to a large number of degrees of freedom. Many biopolymers, e.g. DNA, but also synthetic macromolecules have special structural features due to their backbone stiffness. Since such structural properties are important for e.g. the biological function, a lot of effort has been put into the investigation of the configurational properties of semi-stiff molecules. A theoretical treatment of these systems is often accompanied by computer simulations. The main idea is to compare theoretically derived models with experimental results for real polymers. Using Monte Carlo simulations, I have investigated how this computational technique can build a bridge between theoretical models and experimentally observed phenomena. The effort was mainly directed to develop sampling techniques, for efficiently exploring the configurational space of semi-stiff chains in a wide range of structures. The work was concentrated on compact conformations, since they, as is well known from previous studies, are difficult to sample using conventional methods. In my studies I have shown that the simple and, at a first glance, time consuming method of bead-by-bead regrow as a way of changing the configuration of a semi-stiff chain gave very promising and encouraging results when combined with modern simulation techniques, like Entropic Sampling with the Wang-Landau algorithm. The resulting simulation package was also suitable for parallelization which resulted in a further speed-up of the calculations. In addition to the more elaborate sampling methods, I also investigated external conditions to induce compaction of a semi-stiff polymer. In the case of a polyampholyte the condensing agent could be a multivalent salt, creating effective attraction between the loops of the chain, while for neutral polymers, an external field and the geometry of the confining volume can induce a compaction.
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