Cover illustration
October 16, 2007; 104 (42)
Cover image: Rupture of a coiled-coil protein structure. The structure of fibrous α-helical proteins such as keratin, lamin, and vimentin is known, but how they respond to mechanical load at an atomic level is not well understood. Such knowledge would help materials scientists design improved fibers and other biomimetic materials. In their article on pages 16410–16415, Ackbarow et al. report that both α-helix and β-sheet domains exhibit two distinct fracture modes, depending on the speed of deformation. Image courtesy of Markus Buehler and Theodor Ackbarow, created by Philipp Berger.
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