Adsorption of a Helical Filament Subject to Thermal Fluctuations
We consider semiflexible chains governed by preferred curvature and twist and their flexural and twist moduli. These filaments possess a helical rather than straight three-dimensional (3D) ground state and we call them helical filaments (H-filament). Depending on the moduli, the helical shape may be...
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doaj-03e10632006746ec8ab75bb460b12dc12020-11-25T01:45:18ZengMDPI AGPolymers2073-43602020-01-0112119210.3390/polym12010192polym12010192Adsorption of a Helical Filament Subject to Thermal FluctuationsM.-K. Chae0Y. Kim1A. Johner2N.-K. Lee3Department of Physics and Astronomy, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, KoreaDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, KoreaInstitute Charles Sadron, CNRS 23 Rue du Loess, 67034 Strasbourg CEDEX 2, FranceDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, KoreaWe consider semiflexible chains governed by preferred curvature and twist and their flexural and twist moduli. These filaments possess a helical rather than straight three-dimensional (3D) ground state and we call them helical filaments (H-filament). Depending on the moduli, the helical shape may be smeared by thermal fluctuations. Secondary superhelical structures are expected to form on top of the specific local structure of biofilaments, as is documented for vimentin. We study confinement and adsorption of helical filaments utilizing both a combination of numerical simulations and analytical theory. We investigate overall chain shapes, transverse chain fluctuations, loop and tail distributions, and energy distributions along the chain together with the mean square average height of the monomers <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <mo>〈</mo> <msup> <mi>z</mi> <mn>2</mn> </msup> <mo>〉</mo> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula>. The number fraction of adsorbed monomers serves as an order parameter for adsorption. Signatures of adsorbed helical polymers are the occurrence of 3D helical loops/tails and spiral or wavy quasi-flat shapes. None of these arise for the Worm-Like-Chain, whose straight ground state can be embedded in a plane.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/12/1/192semiflexible polymerspolymers at interfacesbiopolymershelical filamentsadsorption |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
M.-K. Chae Y. Kim A. Johner N.-K. Lee |
spellingShingle |
M.-K. Chae Y. Kim A. Johner N.-K. Lee Adsorption of a Helical Filament Subject to Thermal Fluctuations Polymers semiflexible polymers polymers at interfaces biopolymers helical filaments adsorption |
author_facet |
M.-K. Chae Y. Kim A. Johner N.-K. Lee |
author_sort |
M.-K. Chae |
title |
Adsorption of a Helical Filament Subject to Thermal Fluctuations |
title_short |
Adsorption of a Helical Filament Subject to Thermal Fluctuations |
title_full |
Adsorption of a Helical Filament Subject to Thermal Fluctuations |
title_fullStr |
Adsorption of a Helical Filament Subject to Thermal Fluctuations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Adsorption of a Helical Filament Subject to Thermal Fluctuations |
title_sort |
adsorption of a helical filament subject to thermal fluctuations |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Polymers |
issn |
2073-4360 |
publishDate |
2020-01-01 |
description |
We consider semiflexible chains governed by preferred curvature and twist and their flexural and twist moduli. These filaments possess a helical rather than straight three-dimensional (3D) ground state and we call them helical filaments (H-filament). Depending on the moduli, the helical shape may be smeared by thermal fluctuations. Secondary superhelical structures are expected to form on top of the specific local structure of biofilaments, as is documented for vimentin. We study confinement and adsorption of helical filaments utilizing both a combination of numerical simulations and analytical theory. We investigate overall chain shapes, transverse chain fluctuations, loop and tail distributions, and energy distributions along the chain together with the mean square average height of the monomers <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <mo>〈</mo> <msup> <mi>z</mi> <mn>2</mn> </msup> <mo>〉</mo> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula>. The number fraction of adsorbed monomers serves as an order parameter for adsorption. Signatures of adsorbed helical polymers are the occurrence of 3D helical loops/tails and spiral or wavy quasi-flat shapes. None of these arise for the Worm-Like-Chain, whose straight ground state can be embedded in a plane. |
topic |
semiflexible polymers polymers at interfaces biopolymers helical filaments adsorption |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/12/1/192 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT mkchae adsorptionofahelicalfilamentsubjecttothermalfluctuations AT ykim adsorptionofahelicalfilamentsubjecttothermalfluctuations AT ajohner adsorptionofahelicalfilamentsubjecttothermalfluctuations AT nklee adsorptionofahelicalfilamentsubjecttothermalfluctuations |
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