Figure 3.

Color-coded free energy F as a function of the native contacts $N_c$ (horizontal axis, expressed as a percentage) and the average number of inter contacts $25N_p\times I_c$ (vertical axis), for different concentrations and temperatures. Darker colors correspond to deeper minima in free energy. We mark the absolute free-energy minima in green ellipses as guides for the eyes. We present data only for three concentrations. At ambient conditions (top panels) and $c=11\%$, the proteins are mainly folded (FOL). At $c=25\%$, they are unfolded (UNF) on average. At $c=27\%$, they are unfolded and aggregated (AGG) in their majority. At the warmer temperature (bottom panels), they tend to avoid aggregation, even if they unfold. Statistically, where the volume concentration is low ($11\%$), the proteins explore a larger number of configurations than at higher density, given the high thermal energy and the larger available volume.