Multi-scale morphology in self-assembly of peptides to proteins via a coarse-grain model

Self-organizing structures of short peptides (6-7 residues) and proteins (136 residues) are studied by a coarse-grained Monte Carlo simulation. Peptides and proteins are described by coarse-grained chains of residues whose interactions are described by a knowledge-based residue-residue interaction potential that captures the compositional specificity. Large-scale computer simulations are performed to study the structural evolution e.g. aggregation, network, etc. at a range of temperatures and concentrations. A number of local and global physical quantities including structure factor are examined. We find that the residue interactions, concentration, and size of chains are very important in modulating the structure of emerging morphologies in the specified temperature range. Estimates are provided for the effective (fractal) dimension of the assembly over various length scales as a function of temperature.