Pulling geometry defines the mechanical resistance of a β-sheet protein

@article{Brockwell2003PullingGD,
  title={Pulling geometry defines the mechanical resistance of a $\beta$-sheet protein},
  author={David J. Brockwell and Emanuele Paci and Rebecca C Zinober and Godfrey S. Beddard and Peter D. Olmsted and D. Alastair Smith and Richard N. Perham and Sheena E. Radford},
  journal={Nature Structural Biology},
  year={2003},
  volume={10},
  pages={731-737}
}
Proteins show diverse responses when placed under mechanical stress. The molecular origins of their differing mechanical resistance are still unclear, although the orientation of secondary structural elements relative to the applied force vector is thought to have an important function. Here, by using a method of protein immobilization that allows force to be applied to the same all-β protein, E2lip3, in two different directions, we show that the energy landscape for mechanical unfolding is… 
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306 Citations

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