Faculty Sponsor(s)
Joelle Murray
Location
Jereld R. Nicholson Library
Subject Area
Physics
Description
Proteins are known to fold into tertiary structures that determine their functionality in living organisms. The goal of my research is to better understand the protein folding process through a lattice HP model simulation with a Monte-Carlo based algorithm. Specifically, amino acids in the chain at each time step are allowed to fold to certain locations according to two main criteria: folds must maintain bond length and should be thermally and energetically favorable. This simulation will then be used to examine whether the folding process can be viewed through the lens of self-organized criticality (SOC). In particular, I am interested in whether there are features of the folding process that are independent of the size of the protein. The power law behavior found in SOC systems was not clearly found for the protein lengths studied. Further studies of the model should be investigated.
Recommended Citation
Wisthoff, Addison, "Do Lattice Protein Simulations Exhibit Self-Organized Criticality?" (2014). Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement. Event. Submission 43.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/symposium/2014/all/43
Do Lattice Protein Simulations Exhibit Self-Organized Criticality?
Jereld R. Nicholson Library
Proteins are known to fold into tertiary structures that determine their functionality in living organisms. The goal of my research is to better understand the protein folding process through a lattice HP model simulation with a Monte-Carlo based algorithm. Specifically, amino acids in the chain at each time step are allowed to fold to certain locations according to two main criteria: folds must maintain bond length and should be thermally and energetically favorable. This simulation will then be used to examine whether the folding process can be viewed through the lens of self-organized criticality (SOC). In particular, I am interested in whether there are features of the folding process that are independent of the size of the protein. The power law behavior found in SOC systems was not clearly found for the protein lengths studied. Further studies of the model should be investigated.
