Geometry and physics of proteins

ORAL

Abstract

We recall some of the key lessons of protein research over the last several decades and show that they strongly suggest a new framework for understanding proteins. The unified framework is useful for understanding protein folding, amyloid formation and protein interactions and has important implications for natural selection. The experimental data and our new approach, supported by computer simulations, reveal an astonishing simplicity underlying the protein problem. \\ \\REFERENCES: Banavar, J. R. and Maritan, A. (2003). Colloquium: Geometrical approach to protein folding: A tube picture. Rev. Mod. Phys. 75, 23. \\Banavar, J. R., Hoang, T. X., Maritan, A., Seno, F. and Trovato, A., (2004). A unified perspective on proteins -- a physics approach. Phys. Rev. E 70, 041905. \\Banavar, J. R., Cieplak, M. and Maritan, A., (2004). Lattice tube model of proteins, Phys. Rev. Lett. (in press).

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Authors

  • Jayanth R. Banavar

    • Department of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
    • Penn State
    • Department of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, 104 Davey Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802 USA

  • Marek Cieplak

    • Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland

  • Trinh X. Hoang

    • Institute of Physics and Electronics, Vietnamese Academy of Science and Electronics, 10 Dao Tan, Hanoi, Vietnam

  • Amos Maritan

  • Flavio Seno

  • Antonio Trovato

    • Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita degli Studi di Padova, 35100 Padova, Italy