Glassy Dynamics and Memory Effects in an Intrinsically Disordered Protein Construct
Ian L. Morgan, Ram Avinery, Gil Rahamim, Roy Beck, Omar A. Saleh
Abstract
Glassy, nonexponential relaxations in globular proteins are typically attributed to conformational behaviors that are missing from intrinsically disordered proteins. Yet, we show that single molecules of a disordered-protein construct display two signatures of glassy dynamics, logarithmic relaxations and a Kovacs memory effect, in response to changes in applied tension. We attribute this to the presence of multiple independent local structures in the chain, which we corroborate with a model that correctly predicts the force dependence of the relaxation. The mechanism established here likely applies to other disordered proteins.
Topics & Concepts
Intrinsically disordered proteinsConstruct (python library)Relaxation (psychology)Globular proteinChemical physicsSoft matterPhysicsStatistical physicsMolecular dynamicsLogarithmChemistryNuclear magnetic resonanceComputer sciencePhysical chemistryQuantum mechanicsPsychologyNeuroscienceMathematicsMathematical analysisProgramming languageColloidCellular Mechanics and InteractionsProtein Structure and DynamicsMaterial Dynamics and Properties