Thermodynamic Studies of Macromolecular Models

Abstract: The thermodynamic properties of single chain polyelectrolyte and protein models are studied using Monte Carlo simulations and (for the polyelectrolyte models) variational calculations and high- and low-temperature expansions. A variational method is used for minimizing Lennard-Jones energies and for estimating end-to-end distances for a rigid Coulomb chain at finite temperatures. A polyelectrolyte chain is viewed as Gaussian chain augmented with a Coulomb or screened Coulomb (Debye-Huckel) interaction between all pairs of monomers. Variational calculations are also used together with Monte Carlo simulations to study the behavior of a titrating polyelectrolyte. Furthermore a method for mapping the original polymer to a smaller one by introducing a corrective nearest-neighbor interaction is presented. The underlying assumptions for this approach is examined using high- and low-temperature expansions. The effect of the screening length on the stiffness, defined by the persistence length, of a screened Coulomb chain is studied. Moreover a three dimensional off-lattice model for protein folding is presented. The model has two types of residues, hydrophobic and hydrophilic respectively, that interact via a sequence dependent Lennard-Jones potential. The influence of sequence independent local interactions is studied as well as the folding properties and the formation of the native state.