Looping probability of random heteropolymers helps to understand the scaling properties of biopolymers
Articolo
Data di Pubblicazione:
2016
Citazione:
Looping probability of random heteropolymers helps to understand the scaling properties of biopolymers / Y. Zhang, L. Giorgetti, G. Tiana. - In: PHYSICAL REVIEW. E. - ISSN 2470-0045. - 94:3(2016 Sep 02). [10.1103/PhysRevE.94.032402]
Abstract:
Random heteropolymers are a minimal description of biopolymers and can provide a theoretical framework to the investigate the formation of loops in biophysical experiments. The looping probability as a function of polymer length was observed to display in some biopolymers, like chromosomes in cell nuclei or long RNA chains, anomalous scaling exponents. Combining a two-state model with self-adjusting simulated-tempering calculations, we calculate numerically the looping properties of several realizations of the random interactions within the chain. We find a continuous set of exponents upon varying the temperature, which arises from finite-size effects and is amplified by the disorder of the interactions. We suggest that this could provide a simple explanation for the anomalous scaling exponents found in experiments. In addition, our results have important implications notably for the study of chromosome folding as they show that scaling exponents cannot be the sole criteria for testing hypothesis-driven models of chromosome architecture.
Tipologia IRIS:
01 - Articolo su periodico
Elenco autori:
Y. Zhang, L. Giorgetti, G. Tiana
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