Hierarchical friction memory leads to subdiffusive configurational dynamics of fast-folding proteins

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Klimek, Anton, Dalton, Benjamin A., Tepper, Lucas, Netz, Roland R.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Klimek, Anton
Dalton, Benjamin A.
Tepper, Lucas
Netz, Roland R.
author_facet Klimek, Anton
Dalton, Benjamin A.
Tepper, Lucas
Netz, Roland R.
contents Proteins often exhibit subdiffusive configurational dynamics. The origins of this subdiffusion are still unresolved. We investigate the impact of non-Markovian friction and the free energy landscape on the dynamics of fast-folding proteins in terms of the mean squared displacement (MSD) and the mean first-passage-time (MFPT) of the folding reaction coordinate. We find the friction memory kernel from published molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to be well-described by a hierarchical multi-exponential function, which gives rise to subdiffusion in the MSD over a finite range of time. We show that friction memory effects in fast-folding proteins dominate the scaling behavior of the MSD compared to effects due to the folding free energy landscape. As a consequence, Markovian models are insufficient for capturing the folding dynamics, as quantified by the MSD and the MFPT, even when including coordinate-dependent friction. Our results demonstrate the importance of memory effects in protein folding and conformational dynamics and explicitly show that subdiffusion in fast-folding protein dynamics originates from memory effects, not from the free energy landscape and not from coordinate-dependent friction.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_18823
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Hierarchical friction memory leads to subdiffusive configurational dynamics of fast-folding proteins
Klimek, Anton
Dalton, Benjamin A.
Tepper, Lucas
Netz, Roland R.
Soft Condensed Matter
Biological Physics
Proteins often exhibit subdiffusive configurational dynamics. The origins of this subdiffusion are still unresolved. We investigate the impact of non-Markovian friction and the free energy landscape on the dynamics of fast-folding proteins in terms of the mean squared displacement (MSD) and the mean first-passage-time (MFPT) of the folding reaction coordinate. We find the friction memory kernel from published molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to be well-described by a hierarchical multi-exponential function, which gives rise to subdiffusion in the MSD over a finite range of time. We show that friction memory effects in fast-folding proteins dominate the scaling behavior of the MSD compared to effects due to the folding free energy landscape. As a consequence, Markovian models are insufficient for capturing the folding dynamics, as quantified by the MSD and the MFPT, even when including coordinate-dependent friction. Our results demonstrate the importance of memory effects in protein folding and conformational dynamics and explicitly show that subdiffusion in fast-folding protein dynamics originates from memory effects, not from the free energy landscape and not from coordinate-dependent friction.
title Hierarchical friction memory leads to subdiffusive configurational dynamics of fast-folding proteins
topic Soft Condensed Matter
Biological Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.18823