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Mean Field Approach for a Statistical Mechanical Model of Proteins

Pierpaolo Bruscolini·Fabio Cecconi
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Abstract

We study the thermodynamical properties of a topology-based model proposed by Galzitskaya and Finkelstein for the description of protein folding. We devise and test three different mean-field approaches for the model, that simplify the treatment without spoiling the description. The validity of the model and its mean-field approximations is checked by applying them to the $β$-hairpin fragment of the immunoglobulin-binding protein (GB1) and making a comparison with available experimental data and simulation results. Our results indicate that this model is a rather simple and reasonably good tool for interpreting folding experimental data, provided the parameters of the model are carefully chosen. The mean-field approaches substantially recover all the relevant exact results and represent reliable alternatives to the Monte Carlo simulations.

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Pierpaolo Bruscolini, Fabio Cecconi. 2003-05-13. Mean Field Approach for a Statistical Mechanical Model of Proteins. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1580108

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