Related papers: Dynamical modelling of molecular constructions and…
In this paper we provide an alternative approach to the works of the physicists S. Cocco and R. Monasson about a model of DNA molecules. The aim is to predict the sequence of bases by mechanical stimulations. The model described by the…
We discuss the thermodynamic behaviour near the force induced unzipping transition of a double stranded DNA in two different ensembles. The Y-fork is identified as the coexisting phases in the fixed distance ensemble. From finite size…
The mechanical model based on beads and springs, which we recently proposed to study non-specific DNA-protein interactions [J. Chem. Phys. 130, 015103 (2009)], was improved by describing proteins as sets of interconnected beads instead of…
We consider force-induced unzipping transition for a heterogeneous DNA model with a correlated base-sequence. Both finite-range and long-range correlated situations are considered. It is shown that finite-range correlations increase…
Replication and transcription are two important processes in living systems. To execute such processes, various proteins work far away from equilibrium in a staggered way. Motivated by this, aspects of hysteresis during unzipping of DNA…
We study the compression and extension dynamics of a DNA-like polymer interacting with non-DNA binding and DNA-binding proteins, by means of computer simulations. The geometry we consider is inspired by recent experiments probing the…
This review focuses on the force-induced unzipping transition of double-stranded DNA. It begins with a brief history of DNA melting, which emerged alongside the growth of the field of molecular biology, juxtaposed with the advancements in…
Analysis of single-molecule micromanipulation experiments of DNA unzipping process shows some features of the force-distance curve, namely two consequent plateaus in the area of ${\sim}12-14pN$ dependent on nucleotide sequence structure, as…
The complementary strands of DNA molecules can be separated when stretched apart by a force; the unzipping signal is correlated to the base content of the sequence but is affected by thermal and instrumental noise. We consider here the…
Using theory and simulations, we carried out a first systematic characterization of DNA unzipping via nanopore translocation. Starting from partially unzipped states, we found three dynamical regimes depending on the applied force, f: (i)…
The denaturation of double-stranded DNA as function of force and temperature is discussed. At room temperature, sequence heterogeneity dominates the physics of single molecule force-extension curves starting about 7 piconewtons of below a…
Single molecule studies, at constant force, of the separation of double-stranded DNA into two separated single strands may provide information relevant to the dynamics of DNA replication. At constant applied force, theory predicts that the…
We investigate the thermodynamics and kinetics of DNA hairpins that fold/unfold under the action of applied mechanical force. We introduce the concept of the molecular free energy landscape and derive simplified expressions for the force…
We study numerically the mechanical stability and elasticity properties of duplex DNA molecules within the frame of a network model incorporating microscopic degrees of freedom related with the arrangement of the base pairs. We pay special…
Three, interrelated biologically-relevant examples of biased random walks are presented: (1) A model for DNA melting, modelled as DNA unzipping, which provides a way to illustrate the role of the Boltzmann factor in a venue well-known to…
It is well known that the structural deformations (stressed states) of DNA molecule play a crucial role in its biological functions including gene expression. For instance, looping in DNA (often mediated by protein binding) is a crucial…
We investigate irreversibility and dissipation in single molecules that cooperatively fold/unfold in a two state manner under the action of mechanical force. We apply path thermodynamics to derive analytical expressions for the average…
Dynamics of nucleosomes, the building blocks of the chromatin, has crucial effects on expression, replication and repair of genomes in eukaryotes. Beside constant movements of nucleosomes by thermal fluctuations, ATP-dependent chromatin…
We present a critique and extension of the mean-field approach to the mechanical pulling transition in bound polymer systems. Our model is motivated by the theoretically and experimentally important examples of adsorbed polymers and…
We study theoretically the mechanical failure of a simple model of double stranded DNA under an applied shear. Starting from a more microscopic Hamiltonian that describes a sheared DNA, we arrive at a nonlinear generalization of a ladder…