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. 1992 Jan 1;89(1):20-2.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.1.20.

Levinthal's paradox

R Zwanzig  1 , A Szabo, B Bagchi
Affiliations

Levinthal's paradox

R Zwanzig et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Levinthal's paradox is that finding the native folded state of a protein by a random search among all possible configurations can take an enormously long time. Yet proteins can fold in seconds or less. Mathematical analysis of a simple model shows that a small and physically reasonable energy bias against locally unfavorable configurations, of the order of a few kT, can reduce Levinthal's time to a biologically significant size.

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References

    1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Jul;85(14):5057-61 - PubMed
    1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 May;87(9):3526-9 - PubMed

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