Model for Folding and Aggregation in RNA Secondary Structures

Thumbnail Image

Files

fac_BundschuhR_PhysicalReviewLetters_2006_96_1.pdf (246.9 KB)

Date

2006-01-12

Authors

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

American Physical Society

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Journal Issue

Abstract

We study the statistical mechanics of RNA secondary structures designed to have an attraction between two different types of structures as a model system for heteropolymer aggregation. The competition between the branching entropy of the secondary structure and the energy gained by pairing drives the RNA to undergo a "temperature independent" second order phase transition from a molten to an aggregated phase. The aggregated phase thus obtained has a macroscopically large number of contacts between different RNAs. The partition function scaling exponent for this phase is θ≈1/2 and the crossover exponent of the phase transition is ν≈5/3. The relevance of these calculations to the aggregation of biological molecules is discussed.

Description

Keywords

Citation

Vishwesha Guttal, Ralf Bundschuh, "Model for Folding and Aggregation in RNA Secondary Structures," Physical Review Letters 96, no. 1 (2006), doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.018105

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/1811/48059

Collections

Ohio State University Research and Scholarship