Bacteriophage capsids: Tough nanoshells with complex elastic properties
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چکیده
منابع مشابه
Bacteriophage capsids: tough nanoshells with complex elastic properties.
The shell of bacteriophages protects the viral DNA during host-to-host transfer and serves as a high-pressure container storing energy for DNA injection into a host bacterium. Here, we probe the mechanical properties of nanometer-sized bacteriophage phi 29 shells by applying point forces. We show that empty shells withstand nanonewton forces while being indented up to 30% of their height. The e...
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The majority of the DNA prepared from tailless capsids of bacteriophage P2 by the phenol extraction procedure consists of monomeric rings that have their cohesive ends joined. Electron microscopic and ultracentrifugal studies indicate that these molecules have a complex structure that is topologically knotted; they have a more compact appearance and a higher sedimentation coefficient when compa...
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The phase-field microelasticity (PFM) is adapted into a homogenization process to predict all the effective elastic constants of three-dimensional heterogeneous materials with complex microstructures. Comparison between the PFM approach and the Hashin–Shtrikman variational approach is also given. Using 3D images of two-phase heterogeneous media with regular and irregular microstructures, result...
متن کاملElastic properties and mechanical stability of chiral and filled viral capsids.
The elasticity and mechanical stability of empty and filled viral capsids under external force loading are studied in a combined analytical and numerical approach. We analyze the influence of capsid structure and chirality on the mechanical properties. We find that generally skew shells have lower stretching energy. For large Föppl-von Kármán numbers gamma (gamma approximately 10(5)), skew stru...
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Viruses are known to tolerate wide ranges of pH and salt conditions and to withstand internal pressures as high as 100 atmospheres . In this paper we investigate the mechanical properties of viral capsids, calling explicit attention to the inhomogeneity of the shells that is inherent to their discrete and polyhedral nature. We calculate the distribution of stress in these capsids and analyze th...
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ژورنال
عنوان ژورنال: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
سال: 2004
ISSN: 0027-8424,1091-6490
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0308198101