On the origin of the Boson peak in globular proteins

Stefano Ciliberti (1) , Paolo de Los Rios (2) , Francesco Piazza (2)

1 LPTMS, Univ. Paris Sud
2 EPFL - Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

We study the Boson Peak phenomenology experimentally observed in globular proteins by means of elastic network models. These models are suitable for an analytic treatment in the framework of Euclidean Random Matrix theory, whose predictions can be numerically tested on real proteins structures. We find that the emergence of the Boson Peak is strictly related to an intrinsic mechanical instability of the protein, in close similarity to what is thought to happen in glasses. The biological implications of this conclusion are also discussed by focusing on a representative case study.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

Stefano Ciliberti, Paolo de Los Rios, Francesco Piazza. On the origin of the Boson peak in globular proteins. Philosophical Magazine, 2007, 87 (3-5), pp.631-641. ⟨10.1080/14786430601042369⟩. ⟨hal-00513796⟩