Nonlinear wave trains in three-strand α-helical protein models

Realistic models of α-helix proteins are composed of three covalently-bonded strands, each of which is made of hydrogen-bonded peptide units. The modulational instability analysis of such complex molecular systems is carried out in this work. We show that the exciton-vibron coupling parameter contributes to the explosion and expansion of instability regions. The right choice of the modulational instability parameters leads to the formation of excitonic modulated pulse-like structures. It is argued that covalent bonds are compressed during the process of energy transport, while hydrogen bond oscillations display regular trains of breather-like objects. We also argue that the probable way of energy transport, from modulational instability, is through hydrogen bonds. Copyright EDP Sciences, SIF, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013