Velocity convergence of free energy surfaces from single-molecule measurements using Jarzynski's equality

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2009 Apr;79(4 Pt 1):041912. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.79.041912. Epub 2009 Apr 10.

Abstract

We studied the velocity dependence of mechanical unfolding of single protein molecules with the atomic force microscope. We showed that with enough realizations, the free energy surfaces reconstructed from Jarzynski's equality converge with respect to pulling velocity, in good agreement with theory. Using the I27 domain of titin as an example, we estimated the required number of realizations for a given pulling velocity, and suggested the optimal range of velocities for single-molecule experiments. The results demonstrate that Jarzynski's equality is a powerful and practical tool for reconstructing free energy landscapes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Connectin
  • Humans
  • Microscopy, Atomic Force
  • Muscle Proteins / chemistry*
  • Myocardium / chemistry
  • Probability
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Folding
  • Protein Kinases / chemistry*
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Proteins / chemistry*
  • Thermodynamics
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Connectin
  • Muscle Proteins
  • Proteins
  • TTN protein, human
  • Protein Kinases