Hydrogen-bond network in protein folding

Detailed atomistic models of proteins can only be used to study short times, and thus can involve only very limited conformational changes in large systems. They are also of little use for understanding general principles of proteins and how complex macroscopic properties emerge from elementary interactions. Coarse grained models are used to overcome these problems. However, such models fail to describe many properties of proteins, like the phase diagram of these macromolecules and the forces favoring the formation of secondary structures. The project´s goal is to overcome these limitations and to construct a protein model that contains the correct thermodynamics and topology of real proteins, but is still simple enough to reveal general principles. The approach differs from previous attempts in the use of the hydrogen bonding network as the framework within which the protein folding problem will be formulated.