Gregor Diezemann

Molecular simulations of the reversible mechanical unfolding of molecular assemblies

I will discuss the results of force probe molecular dynamics simulations of  the mechanical unfolding of model systems showing reversible refolding. The discussion will focus on a question discussed vigorously rescently,  the dependence of the results on the compliance of the pulling device.  It is shown that for the system considered a simple harmonic approximation can be used to extend the standard model used for the interpretation of kinetic parameters obtained. The new model  allows to extract additional information about the stiffness of the free energy landscape of the unfolding transition.