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Understanding how a gene maps to a protein is one of the major challenges in molecular biology.
Using ideas of floppy modes in proteins [1, 2], we explore a fundamental question: how a given
one dimensional genetic sequence produces a three dimensional functional protein? Using ideas
from Physics we have developed a microscopic mechanical model of protein to study its
evolution from a non-functional to functional protein [3]. A fitness parameter emerges naturally
that describes the mechanical functionality of the protein. The collective behavior of functional
proteins leads to long ranged interactions in genes. The model provides a template for an explicit
mapping from the genotype to phenotype of functional proteins.
[1] Mitchell MR, Tlusty T, Leibler S, Strain analysis of protein structures and low
dimensionality of mechanical allosteric couplings, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
113(40):E5847–E5855 (2016).
[2] Tsvi Tlusty, Albert Libchaber, and Jean-Pierre Eckmann, Physical model of the
genotype-to-phenotype map of proteins, Phys Rev X 7.2 (2017): 021037.
[3] Sandipan Dutta, J. P. Eckmann, Albert Libchaber, and Tsvi Tlusty, Green function of
correlated genes in a minimal mechanical model of protein evolution, Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences 115.20 (2018): E4559-E4568 |