Berlin 2005 – scientific programme
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SYBN: Biological and Social Networks
SYBN 3: Biologische und Soziale Netzwerke, Postersitzung
SYBN 3.21: Poster
Monday, March 7, 2005, 14:00–15:30, Poster TU E
Entropic Forces between Biopolymers — •Azam Gholami1,2 and Erwin Frey3,2 — 1Hahn-Meitner Institut, Glienickerstr 100,14109 Berlin, Germany — 2Freie Universität, Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany — 3Hahn-Meitner Institut,Glienickerstr 100, 14109 Berlin, Germany
The interaction between biopolymers in the cytoskeleton is characterized by the interplay of energy and entropy. There are electrostatic forces, interactions mediated by crosslinking proteins, and steric interactions induced by thermal fluctuations.
Our studies focus on steric interactions in various geometries. We have performed extensive Monte Carlo simulations, where the polymers are described by the wormlike chain model. The repulsive interaction obtained from the Monte-Carlo data is well explained in terms of analytical results obtained from scaling arguments.
We also study the thermal fluctuations of polymers in the presence of point-like and sheet-like obstacles by both analytical and Monte-Carlo methods. Finally, we have analyzed how the active polymerization of a biopolymer effects the repulsive interaction between the polymer and a fluctuating membrane.