A study of the effects of entanglement and chain architecture in polymers

Biopolymers, like proteins, DNA and RNA, attain secondary and tertiary structures which affect their mechanics and function. In some cases, the secondary structure is local and in other cases it is global, affecting both their local and global topology, and even their global architecture. We use tools from topology to examine the effects of local and global entanglement on protein folding kinetics. Using Field Theoretic simulations, we examine the role of global changes in molecular architecture in polymer solutions.Non UBCUnreviewedAuthor affiliation: University of California Santa BarbaraPostdoctora