We study the enzymatic degradation of an elastic fiber under tension using an anisotropic random-walk model coupled with binding-unbinding reactions that weaken the fiber. The fiber is represented by a chain of elastic springs in series along which enzyme molecules can diffuse. Numerical simulations show that the fiber stiffness decreases exponentially with two distinct regimes. The time consta...

Aquaporins are integral membrane proteins from a larger family of major intrinsic proteins that formpores in the membrane of biological cells. Aquaporins form tetramers in the cell membrane with eachmonomer acting as a water channel.In this research, the AQP4 tetramer was modeled from its PDBstructure file, then, we have performed the intraction of aquaporin4 in different temperatures (298k,300...

Molecular dynamics simulations of ultrathin water film confined between atomically flat rigid diamond plates are described. Films with thickness of one and two molecular diameters are concerned and TIP4P model is used for water molecules. Dynamical and equilibrium characteristics of the system for different values of the external load and shear force are investigated. An increase of the externa...

A novel protocol has been developed for comparing the structural properties of lipid bilayers determined by simulation with those determined by diffraction experiments, which makes it possible to test critically the ability of molecular dynamics simulations to reproduce experimental data. This model-independent method consists of analyzing data from molecular dynamics bilayer simulations in the...

To explore the role of the brush-like proteoglycan, aggrecan, in the shear behavior of cartilage tissue, we measured the lateral resistance to deformation of a monolayer of chemically end-attached cartilage aggrecan on a microcontact printed surface in aqueous NaCl solutions via lateral force microscopy. The effects of bath ionic strength (IS, 0.001-1.0 M) and lateral displacement rate (approxi...