Force modulating dynamic disorder: A physical model of catch-slip bond transitions in receptor-ligand forced dissociation experiments

Recent experiments found that some adhesive receptor-ligand complexes have counterintuitive catch-slip transition behaviors: the mean lifetimes of these complexes first increase (catch) with initial application of a small external force, and then decrease (slip) when the force is beyond some threshold. In this work we suggest that the forced dissociation of these complexes might be a typical rate process with dynamic disorder. The one-dimensional force modulating Agmon-Hopfield model is used to describe the transitions in the single-bond P-selectin glycoprotein ligand 1-P-selectin forced dissociation experiments, which were respectively performed in the constant force [Marshall, Nature (Landon) 423, 190 (2003)] and the ramping force [Evans, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A 98, 11281 (2004)] modes. We find that, an external force can not only accelerate the bond dissociation, but also modulate the complex from the lower-energy barrier to the higher one; the catch-slip bond transition can arise from a particular energy barrier shape. The agreement between our calculation and the experimental data is satisfactory.