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Chen G, Zhang H, Lu T, Jiang Y. The stress deformation response influenced by the chain rigidity for mesostructures in diblock copolymers. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:22992-23004. [PMID: 34611676 DOI: 10.1039/d1cp03159g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
A self-consistent field theory formalism based on the wormlike chain model is developed to investigate the stress-strain relation for mesostructures in diblock copolymers under the influence of chain rigidity, involving the adjustable simulation cell in the non-orthogonal coordinates by means of optimization of free energy. We elucidate the effect of the chain persistency broadly spanning from the Gaussian chain to the rigid rodlike chain on the elastic response of mesophases that deviate from the initial equilibrium structures. We analytically and numerically demonstrate that our current approach in the long chain limit recovers to the Gaussian-chain-based theory. Being ascribed to the distinct conformational behaviors for flexible chains and rigid rodlike chains, the tensile and compressive stresses applied to lamellae exhibit asymmetric deformation behaviors and the shear stress applied to the initial equilibrium hexagonal cylinders results in noticeable deviations in the shape and spatial arrangement of cylindroids for various chain rigidity values. For the zero stress, in addition, our approach can be straightforwardly utilized to explore the optimal size and shape of the simulation cell in order to achieve a stress free configuration of systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaohang Chen
- School of Chemistry and Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education and Center of Soft Matter Physics and Its Applications, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. .,School of Mathematical Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Hui Zhang
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Teng Lu
- Computer Network Information Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Ying Jiang
- School of Chemistry and Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education and Center of Soft Matter Physics and Its Applications, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. .,Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
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Singh PB, Belyakin SN, Laktionov PP. Biology and Physics of Heterochromatin- Like Domains/Complexes. Cells 2020; 9:E1881. [PMID: 32796726 PMCID: PMC7465696 DOI: 10.3390/cells9081881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Revised: 07/29/2020] [Accepted: 08/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The hallmarks of constitutive heterochromatin, HP1 and H3K9me2/3, assemble heterochromatin-like domains/complexes outside canonical constitutively heterochromatic territories where they regulate chromatin template-dependent processes. Domains are more than 100 kb in size; complexes less than 100 kb. They are present in the genomes of organisms ranging from fission yeast to human, with an expansion in size and number in mammals. Some of the likely functions of domains/complexes include silencing of the donor mating type region in fission yeast, preservation of DNA methylation at imprinted germline differentially methylated regions (gDMRs) and regulation of the phylotypic progression during vertebrate development. Far cis- and trans-contacts between micro-phase separated domains/complexes in mammalian nuclei contribute to the emergence of epigenetic compartmental domains (ECDs) detected in Hi-C maps. A thermodynamic description of micro-phase separation of heterochromatin-like domains/complexes may require a gestalt shift away from the monomer as the "unit of incompatibility" that determines the sign and magnitude of the Flory-Huggins parameter, χ. Instead, a more dynamic structure, the oligo-nucleosomal "clutch", consisting of between 2 and 10 nucleosomes is both the long sought-after secondary structure of chromatin and its unit of incompatibility. Based on this assumption we present a simple theoretical framework that enables an estimation of χ for domains/complexes flanked by euchromatin and thereby an indication of their tendency to phase separate. The degree of phase separation is specified by χN, where N is the number of "clutches" in a domain/complex. Our approach could provide an additional tool for understanding the biophysics of the 3D genome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prim B. Singh
- Nazarbayev University School of Medicine, Nur-Sultan City 010000, Kazakhstan
- Epigenetics Laboratory, Department of Natural Sciences, Novosibirsk State University, 2 Pirogova St., 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Stepan N. Belyakin
- Epigenetics Laboratory, Department of Natural Sciences, Novosibirsk State University, 2 Pirogova St., 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
- Genomics laboratory, Institute of molecular and cellular biology SD RAS, Lavrentyev ave, 8/2, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia; (S.N.B.); (P.P.L.)
| | - Petr P. Laktionov
- Epigenetics Laboratory, Department of Natural Sciences, Novosibirsk State University, 2 Pirogova St., 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
- Genomics laboratory, Institute of molecular and cellular biology SD RAS, Lavrentyev ave, 8/2, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia; (S.N.B.); (P.P.L.)
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Abstract
This perspective addresses the development of polymer field theory for predicting the equilibrium phase behavior of block polymer melts. The approach is tailored to the high-molecular-weight limit, where universality reduces all systems to the standard Gaussian chain model, an incompressible melt of elastic threads interacting by contact forces. Using mathematical identities, this particle-based version of the model is converted to an equivalent field-based version that depends on fields rather than particle coordinates. The statistical mechanics of the field-based model is typically solved using the saddle-point approximation of self-consistent field theory (SCFT), which equates to mean field theory, but it can also be evaluated using field theoretic simulations (FTS). While SCFT has matured into one of the most successful theories in soft condensed matter, FTS are still in its infancy. The two main obstacles of FTS are the high computational cost and the occurrence of an ultraviolet divergence, but fortunately there has been recent groundbreaking progress on both fronts. As such, FTS are now well poised to become the method of choice for predicting fluctuation corrections to mean field theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- M W Matsen
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
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Perry SL, Sing CE. 100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Opportunities in the Physics of Sequence-Defined Polymers. ACS Macro Lett 2020; 9:216-225. [PMID: 35638672 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.0c00002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Polymer science has been driven by ever-increasing molecular complexity, as polymer synthesis expands an already-vast palette of chemical and architectural parameter space. Copolymers represent a key example, where simple homopolymers have given rise to random, alternating, gradient, and block copolymers. Polymer physics has provided the insight needed to explore this monomer sequence parameter space. The future of polymer science, however, must contend with further increases in monomer precision, as this class of macromolecules moves ever closer to the sequence-monodisperse polymers that are the workhorses of biology. The advent of sequence-defined polymers gives rise to opportunities for material design, with increasing levels of chemical information being incorporated into long-chain molecules; however, this also raises questions that polymer physics must address. What properties uniquely emerge from sequence-definition? Is this circumstance-dependent? How do we define and think about sequence dispersity? How do we think about a hierarchy of sequence effects? Are more sophisticated characterization methods, as well as theoretical and computational tools, needed to understand this class of macromolecules? The answers to these questions touch on many difficult scientific challenges, setting the stage for a rich future for sequence-defined polymers in polymer physics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah L. Perry
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts−Amherst, 686 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Charles E. Sing
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
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Spakowitz AJ. Polymer physics across scales: Modeling the multiscale behavior of functional soft materials and biological systems. J Chem Phys 2019; 151:230902. [DOI: 10.1063/1.5126852] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew J. Spakowitz
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
- Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
- Biophysics Program, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
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Mao S, MacPherson Q, Liu C, Spakowitz AJ. Thermodynamic Model of Solvent Effects in Semiflexible Diblock and Random Copolymer Assembly. Macromolecules 2018. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b00172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Andrew J. Spakowitz
- Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, United States
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Mao S, MacPherson Q, Spakowitz AJ. Fluctuation Effects in Semiflexible Diblock Copolymers. ACS Macro Lett 2018; 7:59-64. [PMID: 35610917 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.7b00638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
We present a simulation study of the equilibrium thermodynamic behavior of semiflexible diblock copolymer melts. Using discretized wormlike chains and field-theoretic Monte Carlo, we find that concentration fluctuations play a critical role in controlling phase transitions of semiflexible diblock copolymers. Polymer flexibility and aspect ratio control the order-disorder transition Flory-Huggins parameter χODTN. For polymers with low aspect ratios, fluctuations strongly elevate the phase transition χODTN at finite molecular weights. For high aspect-ratio polymers, chain semiflexibility decreases the phase transition χODTN. We find that the simulated phase behavior agrees well with our recently developed fluctuation theory based on wormlike chain configurations and a one-loop treatment of concentration fluctuations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shifan Mao
- Department of Chemical Engineering, ‡Department of Physics, §Department of Materials Science and
Engineering, ∥Department of Applied Physics, and ⊥Biophysics Program, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
| | - Quinn MacPherson
- Department of Chemical Engineering, ‡Department of Physics, §Department of Materials Science and
Engineering, ∥Department of Applied Physics, and ⊥Biophysics Program, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
| | - Andrew J. Spakowitz
- Department of Chemical Engineering, ‡Department of Physics, §Department of Materials Science and
Engineering, ∥Department of Applied Physics, and ⊥Biophysics Program, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
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