Ideal Glasses and Protein Network Dynamics

TL;DR

This paper explores topological analogies between inorganic glasses, biological molecules, and proteins, proposing a simplified mechanical model for protein dynamics that could enhance understanding of living materials and enzymatic functions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel topological analogy framework and a minimalist mechanical model for protein flexibility based on mean field estimates of internal stress.

Findings

Analogies between glasses and proteins suggest new modeling approaches

A simple mechanical model effectively describes trehalose and sandwich-like proteins

Topological methods can identify mechanisms supporting biological material flexibility

Abstract

Quantitative topological analogies between the flexibilities of optimized inorganic glasses, small biological molecules, and proteins suggest that mean field estimates of internal stress are useful in identifying mechanisms supporting living materials and their enzymatic products. These analogies bode well for emerging minimalist flexibility models of protein dynamics. Application to trehalose, the optimal bioprotective material, leads to a remarkably simple mechanical model, closely parallel to mechanical effects observed in sandwich-like proteins.