Related papers: Nucleosome Switching
The equilibrium structure of a Dinucleosome is studied using an elastic model that takes into account the force and torque balance conditions. Using the proper boundary conditions, it is found that the conformational energy of the problem…
The process of polymerizing a protein by a ribosome, using a messenger RNA (mRNA) as the corresponding template, is called {\it translation}. Ribosome may be regarded as a molecular motor for which the mRNA template serves also as the…
DNA nanocompartment is a typical DNA-based machine whose function is dependent of molecular collective effect. Fundamental properties of the device have been addressed via electrochemical analysis, fluorescent microscopy, and atomic force…
Cooperative binding of transcription factors (TFs) to cis-regulatory regions (CRRs) is essential for precision of gene expression in development and other processes. The classical model of cooperativity requires direct interactions between…
Eukaryotes tune the transcriptional activity of their genome by altering the nucleosome core particle through multiple chemical processes. In particular, replacement of the canonical H2A histone with the variants macroH2A and H2A.Z has been…
Problems of search and recognition appear over different scales in biological systems. In this review we focus on the challenges posed by interactions between proteins, in particular transcription factors, and DNA and possible mechanisms…
Evolution of gene regulation is crucial for our understanding of the phenotypic differences between species, populations and individuals. Sequence-specific binding of transcription factors to the regulatory regions on the DNA is a key…
We develop revised theoretical ideas on the mechanism by which the transcription factor proteins locate their specific binding sites on DNA faster than the three-dimensional (3D) diffusion controlled rate limit. We demonstrate that the…
Based on the result of an unzipping phase transition by a force in a model of DNA, we hypothesize that the DnaA-type proteins act as a pulling agent with a force slightly less than the critical force for unzipping. The dynamic (space-time)…
We address the problem of proteasomal protein translocation and introduce a new stochastic model of the proteasomal digestion (cleavage) of proteins. In this model we account for the protein translocation and the positioning of cleavage…
We developed a method for estimating the positional distribution of transcription fac-tor (TF) binding sites using ChIP-chip data, and applied it to recently published experiments on binding sites of nine TFs; OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, HNF1A,…
The folding angle distribution of stretched and negatively supercoiled DNA double-helix is investigated based on a theoretical model we proposed earlier [H. Zhou et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 4560 (1999)]. It is shown that pulling can…
The mechanism of threshold elongation (overstretching) of DNA macromolecules under the action of external force is studied within the framework of phenomenological approach. When considering the task it is taken into account that…
The regulation of a gene depends on the binding of transcription factors to specific sites located in the regulatory region of the gene. The generation of these binding sites and of cooperativity between them are essential building blocks…
The phage $\lambda$ infection of an \textit{E. coli} cell has become a paradigm for understanding the molecular processes involved in gene expression and cell signaling. This system provides an example of a genetic switch, as cells with…
The dynamics of particles interacting by key-lock binding of attached biomolecules are studied theoretically. Examples of such systems include DNA-functionalized colloids as well as nanoparticles grafted with antibodies to cell membrane…
Status, open questions, and future prospects of the physics of excited nucleons are discussed. Emphasis is on the study of the structure of nucleons via measurements of their electromagnetic transition form factors, the search for "missing"…
While the behavior of double stranded DNA at mesoscopic scales is fairly well understood, less is known about its relation to the rich mechanical properties in the base-pair scale, which is crucial, for instance, to understand DNA-protein…
RSC is an essential chromatin remodeling factor that is required for the control of several processes including transcription, repair and replication. The ability of RSC to relocate centrally positioned mononucleosomes at the end of…
A general model for the early recognition and colocalization of homologous DNA sequences is proposed. We show, on a thermodynamic ground, how the distance between two homologous DNA sequences is spontaneously regulated by the concentration…