Rubi J M, Bedeaux D, Kjelstrup S
Departament de Fisica Fonamental, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
J Phys Chem B. 2007 Aug 16;111(32):9598-602. doi: 10.1021/jp073413w. Epub 2007 Jul 21.
We use mesoscopic nonequilibrium thermodynamics theory to describe RNA unfolding under tension. The theory introduces reaction coordinates, characterizing a continuum of states for each bond in the molecule. The unfolding considered is so slow that one can assume local equilibrium in the space of the reaction coordinates. In the quasi-stationary limit of high sequential barriers, our theory yields the master equation of a recently proposed sequential-step model. Nonlinear switching kinetics is found between open and closed states. Our theory unifies the thermodynamic and kinetic descriptions and offers a systematic procedure to characterize the dynamics of the unfolding process.
我们使用介观非平衡热力学理论来描述RNA在张力下的解折叠。该理论引入了反应坐标，以表征分子中每个键的连续状态。所考虑的解折叠过程非常缓慢，以至于可以假设在反应坐标空间中存在局部平衡。在高序列势垒的准静态极限下，我们的理论得出了最近提出的序列步模型的主方程。发现了开放态和封闭态之间的非线性开关动力学。我们的理论统一了热力学和动力学描述，并提供了一个系统的程序来表征解折叠过程的动力学。
