Related papers: Force-induced misfolding in RNA
A theory of the unzipping of double-stranded (ds) DNA is presented, and is compared to recent micromanipulation experiments. It is shown that the interactions which stabilize the double helix and the elastic rigidity of single strands (ss)…
RNA function crucially depends on its structure. Thermodynamic models currently used for secondary structure prediction rely on computing the partition function of folding ensembles, and can thus estimate minimum free-energy structures and…
Nonequilibrium experiments of single biomolecules such as force-induced unfolding reveal details about a few degrees of freedom of a complex system. Molecular dynamics simulations can provide complementary information, but exploration of…
This paper aims at a comprehensive understanding on the novel elastic property of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) discovered very recently through single-molecule manipulation techniques. A general elastic model for double-stranded biopolymers…
We study the folding of RNA secondary structures with quenched sequence randomness by means of the constrained annealing method. A thermodynamic phase transition is induced by including the conformational weight of loop structures. In…
This contribution focuses on the fascinating RNA molecule, its sequence-dependent folding driven by base-pairing interactions, the interplay between these interactions and natural evolution, and its multiple regulatory roles. The four of us…
Accurate knowledge of RNA hybridization is essential for understanding RNA structure and function. Here we mechanically unzip and rezip a 2-kbp RNA hairpin and derive the 10 nearest-neighbor base pair (NNBP) RNA free energies in sodium and…
Formation of base pairs between the nucleotides of an RNA sequence gives rise to a complex and often highly branched RNA structure. While numerous studies have demonstrated the functional importance of the high degree of RNA branching --…
The Nearest Neighbor model is the $\textit{de facto}$ thermodynamic model of RNA secondary structure formation and is a cornerstone of RNA structure prediction and sequence design. The current functional form (Turner 2004) contains…
We investigate the possibility of extending the notion of temperature in a stochastic model for the RNA/protein folding driven out of equilibrium. We simulate the dynamics of a small RNA hairpin subject to an external pulling force, which…
RNA pseudoknots are a kind of minimal RNA tertiary structural motifs, and their three-dimensional (3D) structures and stability play essential roles in a variety of biological functions. Therefore, to predict 3D structures and stability of…
How proteins fold remains a central unsolved problem in biology. While the idea of a folding code embedded in the amino acid sequence was introduced more than 6 decades ago, this code remains undefined. While we now have powerful predictive…
Metrics for indirectly predicting the folding rates of RNA sequences are of interest. In this letter, we introduce a simple metric of RNA structural complexity, which accounts for differences in the energetic contributions of RNA base…
The sequence-dependent folding landscapes of nucleic acid hairpins reflect much of the complexity of biomolecular folding. Folding trajectories, generated using single molecule force clamp experiments by attaching semiflexible polymers to…
Ab initio RNA secondary structure predictions have long dismissed helices interior to loops, so-called pseudoknots, despite their structural importance. Here, we report that many pseudoknots can be predicted through long time scales RNA…
The rupture of double-stranded DNA under stress is a key process in biophysics and nanotechnology. In this article we consider the shear-induced rupture of short DNA duplexes, a system that has been given new importance by recently designed…
RNA secondary structure prediction is widely used to understand RNA function. Recently, there has been a shift away from the classical minimum free energy (MFE) methods to partition function-based methods that account for folding ensembles…
RNA/protein interactions play crucial roles in controlling gene expression. They are becoming important targets for pharmaceutical applications. Due to RNA flexibility and to the strength of electrostatic interactions, standard docking…
Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) can fold into shapes that perform functions in the cell. These foldings are governed by Watson-Crick base pairing, namely Adenine to Uracil and Cytosine to Guanine (A-U and G-C). The properties of the H-P…
Single-molecule force spectroscopy has opened a new field of research in molecular biophysics and biochemistry. Pulling experiments on individual proteins permit us to monitor conformational transitions with high temporal resolution and…