Read the paper by Kappiyoor, R., Balasubramanian, G., Dudek, D. M., and Puri, I. K., "Elastomechanical properties of resilin," Soft Matter, 7, 11006-11009, 2011. In it, we report on the effect of polarity on the elastic properties of the elastomeric protein resilin that is found in different insects. We simulate tensile tests on four naturally occurring resilin motifs. We repeat simulations on reduced-polarity counterparts of these motifs. There is a strong correlation between polarity and extensibility. This is due to the presence of adsorbed water molecules that assist deformation energy transfer from the polar motif, allowing it to stretch further before it undergoes failure. Our results describe the influence of charge on the mechanical properties of proteins.

Click to see a video showing an example of protein breaking but it requires a good eye and some concentration.