Mi D, Meng WQ, Sun YQ. Unifying model for two-state and downhill protein folding.
PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS 2011;
83:041901. [PMID:
21599197 DOI:
10.1103/physreve.83.041901]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2010] [Revised: 09/06/2010] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
A protein-folding model is proposed at the amino acid level, in which the folding process is divided into two successive stages: the rate-determining step, dominated by the "stochastic interactions"of solvent molecules, and the rapid phase, dominated by the "order interactions"among atoms in polypeptide. The master equation approach is used to investigate the folding kinetics, and an analytical treatment of the master equation yields a simple three-parameter expression for folding time. It is found that both two-state and downhill protein-folding kinetics can be described by a unifying model.
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