Flexibility-induced effects in the Brownian motion of colloidal trimers
Shape changes resulting from segmental flexibility are ubiquitous in molecular and biological systems, and are expected to affect both the diffusive motion and (biological) function of dispersed objects. The recent development of colloidal structures with freely jointed bonds have now made a direct...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Physical Society
2020-07-01
|
| Series: | Physical Review Research |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033136 |
| _version_ | 1827286036143669248 |
|---|---|
| author | Ruben W. Verweij Pepijn G. Moerman Nathalie E. G. Ligthart Loes P. P. Huijnen Jan Groenewold Willem K. Kegel Alfons van Blaaderen Daniela J. Kraft |
| author_facet | Ruben W. Verweij Pepijn G. Moerman Nathalie E. G. Ligthart Loes P. P. Huijnen Jan Groenewold Willem K. Kegel Alfons van Blaaderen Daniela J. Kraft |
| author_sort | Ruben W. Verweij |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Shape changes resulting from segmental flexibility are ubiquitous in molecular and biological systems, and are expected to affect both the diffusive motion and (biological) function of dispersed objects. The recent development of colloidal structures with freely jointed bonds have now made a direct experimental investigation of diffusive shape-changing objects possible. Here, we show the effect of segmental flexibility on the simplest possible model system, a freely jointed cluster of three spherical particles, and validate long-standing theoretical predictions. We find that, in addition to the rotational diffusion time, an analogous conformational diffusion time governs the relaxation of the diffusive motion, unique to flexible assemblies, and that their translational diffusivity differs by a small but measurable amount. We also uncovered a Brownian quasiscallop mode, where diffusive motion is coupled to Brownian shape changes. Our findings could have implications for molecular and biological systems where diffusion plays an important role, such as functional site availability in lock-and-key protein interactions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:24:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-50797cc77a294ba1a6aff285aabb81d6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2643-1564 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:24:45Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physical Review Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-50797cc77a294ba1a6aff285aabb81d62024-04-12T16:57:45ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642020-07-012303313610.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033136Flexibility-induced effects in the Brownian motion of colloidal trimersRuben W. VerweijPepijn G. MoermanNathalie E. G. LigthartLoes P. P. HuijnenJan GroenewoldWillem K. KegelAlfons van BlaaderenDaniela J. KraftShape changes resulting from segmental flexibility are ubiquitous in molecular and biological systems, and are expected to affect both the diffusive motion and (biological) function of dispersed objects. The recent development of colloidal structures with freely jointed bonds have now made a direct experimental investigation of diffusive shape-changing objects possible. Here, we show the effect of segmental flexibility on the simplest possible model system, a freely jointed cluster of three spherical particles, and validate long-standing theoretical predictions. We find that, in addition to the rotational diffusion time, an analogous conformational diffusion time governs the relaxation of the diffusive motion, unique to flexible assemblies, and that their translational diffusivity differs by a small but measurable amount. We also uncovered a Brownian quasiscallop mode, where diffusive motion is coupled to Brownian shape changes. Our findings could have implications for molecular and biological systems where diffusion plays an important role, such as functional site availability in lock-and-key protein interactions.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033136 |
| spellingShingle | Ruben W. Verweij Pepijn G. Moerman Nathalie E. G. Ligthart Loes P. P. Huijnen Jan Groenewold Willem K. Kegel Alfons van Blaaderen Daniela J. Kraft Flexibility-induced effects in the Brownian motion of colloidal trimers Physical Review Research |
| title | Flexibility-induced effects in the Brownian motion of colloidal trimers |
| title_full | Flexibility-induced effects in the Brownian motion of colloidal trimers |
| title_fullStr | Flexibility-induced effects in the Brownian motion of colloidal trimers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Flexibility-induced effects in the Brownian motion of colloidal trimers |
| title_short | Flexibility-induced effects in the Brownian motion of colloidal trimers |
| title_sort | flexibility induced effects in the brownian motion of colloidal trimers |
| url | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033136 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT rubenwverweij flexibilityinducedeffectsinthebrownianmotionofcolloidaltrimers AT pepijngmoerman flexibilityinducedeffectsinthebrownianmotionofcolloidaltrimers AT nathalieegligthart flexibilityinducedeffectsinthebrownianmotionofcolloidaltrimers AT loespphuijnen flexibilityinducedeffectsinthebrownianmotionofcolloidaltrimers AT jangroenewold flexibilityinducedeffectsinthebrownianmotionofcolloidaltrimers AT willemkkegel flexibilityinducedeffectsinthebrownianmotionofcolloidaltrimers AT alfonsvanblaaderen flexibilityinducedeffectsinthebrownianmotionofcolloidaltrimers AT danielajkraft flexibilityinducedeffectsinthebrownianmotionofcolloidaltrimers |