There are either two monomers A and B or one complex, AB, in equilibrium in a vo
ID: 958806 • Letter: T
Question
There are either two monomers A and B or one complex, AB, in equilibrium in a volume consisting of 106 boxes. Suppose that the interaction energy of proteins A and B in the dimer is –5 kBT. In other words, the molecular interactions that occur in the complex reduce the energy of AB by 5 times thermal energy in comparison to having two separated and non-interacting monomers.
Write the canonical partition function (considering only configurational microstates) and calculate its value.
Hint: There are two energy macrostates, the dimerAB, whose e?nergy we can take to be 0, and the separated monomers, A + B, whose energy we can take to be +5 kBT. Use the formula for the canonical partition function that states:
where W(0) is the number of microstates for the dimer, and W(5kBT) is the number of microstate for the separated monomers.
E/kBTExplanation / Answer
number of microstates for dimer , W(0) = 1
number of microstate for the separated monomers, W(5kBT) = 3
Q = 1e-0 + 3e-5
Q = 1.020
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