Contacting Probability Dependence of Folding Dynamics of a Modeling Protein

The folding dynamics of a model of polypeptides is studied by Monte Carlo simulations. The effect of contacting probability between monomers is discussed. A specific temperature T^* corresponding to the fastest folding process is found. At the temperature T^*, the folding process appears more conservative than at other temperatures. In addition a cooperative characteristic, the length dependence of T^*, is also illustrated. These show some instructive insights into the generic features of protein folding in nature.