Heteropolymers are important examples of self-assembling systems. However, in the design of artificial heteropolymers the control over the single chain self-assembling properties does not reach that of the natural bio-polymers, and in particular proteins. Here, we introduce a sufficiency criterion to identify polymers that can be designed to adopt a predetermined structure and show that it is fulfilled by polymers made of monomers interacting through directional (anisotropic) interactions. The criterion is based on the appearance of a particular peak in the radial distribution function, that we show being a universal feature of all designable heteropolymers, as it is present also in natural proteins. Our criterion can be used to engineer new self-assembling modular polymers that will open new avenues for applications in materials science.
The role of directional interactions in the designability of generalized heteropolymers / Cardelli, Chiara; Bianco, Valentino; Rovigatti, Lorenzo; Nerattini, Francesca; Tubiana, Luca; Dellago, CHRISTOPH HANS HERMANN; Coluzza, Ivan. - In: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. - ISSN 2045-2322. - 7:1(2017), p. 4986. [10.1038/s41598-017-04720-7]
The role of directional interactions in the designability of generalized heteropolymers
CARDELLI, CHIARA;Rovigatti, Lorenzo;DELLAGO, CHRISTOPH HANS HERMANN;
2017
Abstract
Heteropolymers are important examples of self-assembling systems. However, in the design of artificial heteropolymers the control over the single chain self-assembling properties does not reach that of the natural bio-polymers, and in particular proteins. Here, we introduce a sufficiency criterion to identify polymers that can be designed to adopt a predetermined structure and show that it is fulfilled by polymers made of monomers interacting through directional (anisotropic) interactions. The criterion is based on the appearance of a particular peak in the radial distribution function, that we show being a universal feature of all designable heteropolymers, as it is present also in natural proteins. Our criterion can be used to engineer new self-assembling modular polymers that will open new avenues for applications in materials science.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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