Eur. Phys. J. B 24, 377-381 (2001)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10051-001-8686-1

Enhanced energy transport in polypeptide chains under the influence of the pulsating protein matrix

Freie Universität Berlin, Fachbereich Physik, Institut für Theoretische Physik, Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany

Corresponding author: ^a hennigd@physik.fu-berlin.de

Received: 16 August 2001
Revised: 28 September 2001
Published online: 15 December 2001

Abstract

We study coupled exciton vibration dynamics in a one-dimensional polypeptide chain interacting with the pulsating protein matrix. Special attention is paid to the initiation of polaron motion on the polypeptide chain through the coupling of the exciton transfer dynamics to a breathing mode of the protein matrix. We found that the dynamics of the protein matrix strongly influence the polaron mobility and the steady motion is activated by different types of breathing protein modes ranging from coherent driving with a single-frequency mode to noncoherent driving with modes whose frequencies and phases are site-dependent random quantities. Interestingly, up to a critical value of the width of the frequency distribution it holds that the broader the distribution of the random frequencies of the protein mode is the higher is the velocity of the mobile polaron.