Long-range energy modes in alpha-helix lattices with inter-spine coupling

Journal article

Authors / Editors

Tabi, Condrad

Research Areas

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Publication Details

Author list: Madiba SE, Tabi CB, Ekobena HPF, Kofane TC

Publisher: Elsevier

Place: AMSTERDAM

Publication year: 2019

Journal: Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications (0378-4371)

Journal acronym: PHYSICA A

Volume number: 514

Start page: 298

End page: 310

Number of pages: 13

ISSN: 0378-4371

eISSN: 1873-2119

Languages: English-Great Britain (EN-GB)

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Abstract

A system for three-strand alpha-helix proteins, with long-range dispersive interactions among polypeptide units, is considered. The associate improved Davydov model is shown to be fully described by a set of modified coupled discrete nonlinear Schrodinger equations, which involve long-range interactions between peptide groups along the protein strands. By means of the modulational instability theory, the competition between nonlinearity and long-range intermolecular interactions are shown to modify the domain of instability of plane waves. The impact of the competition between nonlinearity and long-range interactions, on the process of energy transport and storage, is also addressed numerically. It is shown that nonlinearity and the long-range couplings conspire to the emergence of trains of solitonic structures, when parameters are well chosen within the domain of instability of plane waves. The relevance of the improved model as well as the biological implications of the account of long-range intermolecular interactions, are discussed in the contexts of energy transport and storage in hydrogen-bonded molecular structures in general, and in alpha-helix proteins in particular. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords

alpha-helix, Energy, Long-range interaction, solitons

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