Fluctuating Nonlinear Spring Model of Mechanical Deformation of Biological Particles.

ABSTRACT: The mechanical properties of virus capsids correlate with local conformational dynamics in the capsid structure. They also reflect the required stability needed to withstand high internal pressures generated upon genome loading and contribute to the success of important events in viral infectivity, such as capsid maturation, genome uncoating and receptor binding. The mechanical properties of biological nanoparticles are often determined from monitoring their dynamic deformations in Atomic Force Microscopy nanoindentation experiments; but a comprehensive theory describing the full range of observed deformation behaviors has not previously been described. We present a new theory for modeling dynamic deformations of biological nanoparticles, which considers the non-linear Hertzian deformation

SUBMITTER: Kononova O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4731076 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature