Protein charge transport away from equilibrium

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Thorsten Koslowski
• Subject Area: Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics ; Physical Chemistry of Molecules, Liquids and Interfaces, Biophysical Chemistry
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 431945604

Electron transfer in proteins is an essential biochemical reaction that can be found on all branches of the tree of life. In biological systems, charge carriers become trapped and undergo hopping transport between cofactors as the centres of excess charge localization.Reducing the interactions in the complex aggregates of proteins and cofactors to few-site models that can be treated using methods from theoretical physics and chemistry is one of the central problems of biological charge transfer.As part of the research unit 'Reducing complexity of nonequilibrium systems', we aim at computing and understanding electron transport through proteins under nonequilibrium conditions such as external fields and sources of charge. Here, transport through membranes and nanostructures usually occurs far from equilibrium and beyond the linear response regime. We plan to reduce the complexity of the biopolymers to simple models using dielectric theory and atomistic simulations. The resulting models will be addressed by a combination of Kirchhoff's equations for the voltages and currents and Master equations for the charges. The classical transport methods will be continuously validated employing high-level quantum transport approaches.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 5099: Reducing complexity of nonequilibrium systems
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Michael Thoss