0000000000277171
AUTHOR
Piotr E. Marszalek
showing 2 related works from this author
Mechanically interlocked calix[4]arene dimers display reversible bond breakage under force.
2009
The physics of nanoscopic systems is strongly governed by thermal fluctuations that produce significant deviations from the behaviour of large ensembles1,2. Stretching experiments of single molecules offer a unique way to study fundamental theories of statistical mechanics, as recently shown for the unzipping of RNA hairpins3. Here, we report a molecular design based on oligo calix[4]arene catenanes—calixarene dimers held together by 16 hydrogen bridges—in which loops within the molecules limit how far the calixarene nanocapsules can be separated. This mechanically locked structure tunes the energy landscape of dimers, thus permitting the reversible rupture and rejoining of the individual n…
Effects of ligand binding on the mechanical properties of ankyrin repeat protein gankyrin.
2012
Ankyrin repeat proteins are elastic materials that unfold and refold sequentially, repeat by repeat, under force. Herein we use atomistic molecular dynamics to compare the mechanical properties of the 7-ankyrin-repeat oncoprotein Gankyrin in isolation and in complex with its binding partner S6-C. We show that the bound S6-C greatly increases the resistance of Gankyrin to mechanical stress. The effect is specific to those repeats of Gankyrin directly in contact with S6-C, and the mechanical ‘hot spots’ of the interaction map to the same repeats as the thermodynamic hot spots. A consequence of stepwise nature of unfolding and the localized nature of ligand binding is that it impacts on all as…