Physics – Condensed Matter – Soft Condensed Matter
Scientific paper
2009-09-18
Phys. Rev. E 81 (2010) 031802
Physics
Condensed Matter
Soft Condensed Matter
7 pages, 4 figures; typos corrected, minor changes, final version as published in PRE
Scientific paper
10.1103/PhysRevE.81.031802
Some important biomolecules (for instance, bacterial FtsZ and eukaryotic DNA) are known to posses spontaneous (intrinsic) curvature. Using a simple extension of the wormlike chain model, we study the response of a weakly bending filament in two dimensions to a pulling force applied at its ends (a configuration common in classical in-vitro experiments and relevant to several in-vivo cell cases). The spontaneous curvature of such a chain or filament can in general be arc-length dependent and we study a case of sinusoidal variation, from which an arbitrary case can be reconstructed via Fourier transformation. We obtain analytic results for the force-extension relationship and the width of transverse fluctuations. We show that spontaneous-curvature undulations can affect the force-extension behavior even in relatively flexible filaments with a persistence length smaller than the contour length.
Benetatos Panayotis
Terentjev Eugene M.
No associations
LandOfFree
Stretching weakly bending filaments with spontaneous curvature in two dimensions does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Stretching weakly bending filaments with spontaneous curvature in two dimensions, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Stretching weakly bending filaments with spontaneous curvature in two dimensions will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-277499