IFMBE Proceedings of 4th International Conference on Biomedical Engineering in Vietnam (Springer), Vol. 40, p. 372-375 (2013)

ISSN: 1680-0737

Symmetry and Folded Structures of Biomolecules

T. X. Hoang, N. T. T. Nhung, J. R. Banavar, and A. Maritan

Our work suggests that protein native state structures occupy a novel phase of matter corresponding to the marginally compact conformations of a flexible tube. This phase arises from common attributes of proteins and is independent of amino acid sequences. Our approach provides a simple and unified framework to understand protein folding and amyloid formation. With a constraint on the local radius of curvature, the tube model is also shown to have ground state conformations similar to that of DNA toroids.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-32183-2_90