Abstract

I will present two topics concerning ligand-receptor dynamics. The first addresses an inverse problem in which we attempt to reconstruct the potential energy landscape from bond rupturing time distributions. An algorithm for reconstruction is developed and optimized. We show how multiple data sets can be used to reconstruct complex potentials in an otherwise very ill-posed problem. In the second part of the talk, I will model the competition between fusion and endocytosis entry pathways for enveloped viruses. For viruses requiring two receptors for entry, such as HIV, the parameter regimes favoring fusion or endocytosis are derived in the form of a phase diagram that depends on the receptor binding to coreceptor binding rates.