A crumpled surface having transverse attractive interactions as a simplified model with biological significance

Abstract

Using extensive analogical simulations with square sheets of paper we investigate the influence of short-range transverse attractive interactions on the packing properties of a crumpled surface. These interactions are due to transverse connections or local bridges associated with a given number of binding sites localized on the two-dimensional surface and distributed in several patterns in the three-dimensional physical space. Geometrical relations and critical exponents describing the statistical properties of the crumpled surface are obtained as a function of the strength of the attractive interactions. Our model suggests how the presence of short-range interactions as, e.g. van der Waals forces can be important for the geometric plasticity of biological molecules, which in turn is important for biological function. The relevance of our results to the study of molecular conformation of proteins and membranes is discussed, and a comparison is also made between the behavior of the crumpled surface studied here and other important non-equilibrium fractal structures.