Related papers: Phenomenological modeling of DNA overstretching
The symmetries of the DNA double helix require a new term in its linear response to stress: the coupling between twist and stretch. Recent experiments with torsionally-constrained single molecules give the first direct measurement of this…
The influence of decoherence and bonding on the linear conductance of single double-stranded DNA molecules is examined by fitting a phenomenological statistical model developed recently (EPJB {\bf 68}, 237 (2009)) to experimental results.…
In the present paper we study the impact of dispersion and nonlinearity on DNA dynamics. We rely on the helicoidal Peyrard-Bishop model and use the fact that nonlinear DNA dynamics represents an interplay between nonlinearity and…
We introduce a model of proteins in which all of the key atoms in the protein backbone are accounted for, thus extending the Freely Rotating Chain model. We use average bond lengths and average angles from the Protein Databank as input…
We examine the elastic model of short circular DNA. We obtain analytic expressions for configurations, elastic energy, twist and linking number of our solutions. We find the onset of the plectonemic transition. We suggest ways to use our…
The importance of nonlinearities in material constitutive relations has long been appreciated in the continuum mechanics of macroscopic rods. Although the moment (torque) response to bending is almost universally linear for small deflection…
Nucleic acids have been regarded as stiff polymers with long-range flexibility and generally modeled using elastic rod models of polymer physics. Notwithstanding, investigations carried out over the past few years on single fragments of…
Single-molecule experiments provide new insights into biological processes hitherto not accessible by measurements performed on bulk systems. We report on a study of the kinetics of a triple-branch DNA molecule with four conformational…
A chemical kinetic model of the elongation dynamics of RNA polymerase along a DNA sequence is introduced. The proposed model governs the discrete movement of the RNA polymerase along a DNA template, with no consideration given to elastic…
In solution, DNA is a highly charged macromolecule which bears a unit of negative charge on each phosphate of its sugar-phosphate backbone. Although partially compensated by counterions adsorbed at or condensed near it, DNA still produces a…
Recent experimental data indicate that the elastic wormlike rod model of DNA that works well on long length scales may break down on shorter scales relevant to biology. According to Noy and Golestanian (Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 228101, 2012)…
By resorting to the thick-chain model we discuss how the stretching response of a polymer is influenced by the self-avoidance entailed by its finite thickness. The characterization of the force versus extension curve for a thick chain is…
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…
DNA bending on length scales shorter than a persistence length plays an integral role in the translation of genetic information from DNA to cellular function. Quantitative experimental studies of these biological systems have led to a…
A simple model of DNA based on two interacting polymers has been used to study the unzipping of a double stranded DNA subjected to a periodic force. We propose a dynamical transition, where without changing the physiological condition, it…
This paper presents a numerical study of the dynamics of DNA double helix breakage under the influence of external forces using the Peyrard-Bishop-Dauxois (PBD) model. The PBD model represents DNA as a chain of nonlinearly coupled…
The binding of proteins onto DNA contributes to the shaping and packaging of genome as well as to the expression of specific genetic messages. With a view to understanding the interplay between the presence of proteins and the deformation…
The aim of the present paper is the study of the entropic elasticity of the dsDNA molecule, having a cristallographic length L of the order of 10 to 30 persistence lengths A, when it is subject to spatial obstructions. We have not tried to…
In this paper we consider a physical system in which two DNA molecules braid about each other. The distance between the two molecular ends, on either side of the braid, is held at a distance much larger than supercoiling radius of the…
A constitutive relation between stress and strain relative to a reference state is the basic assumption of elasticity theory. However, in living matter, force generation is governed by motor molecule activity, which does not depend on…