Related papers: DNA nanotweezers studied with a coarse-grained mod…
I present a Hamiltonian model and a computational method suitable to evaluate structural and thermodynamic properties of helical molecules embedded in crowded environments which may confine the space available to the base pair fluctuations.…
The mechanical properties of DNA are typically described by elastic theories with purely local couplings (on-site models). We discuss and analyze coarse-grained (oxDNA) and all-atom simulations, which indicate that in DNA distal sites are…
DNA unzipping, the separation of its double helix into single strands, is crucial in modulating a host of genetic processes. Although the large-scale separation of double-stranded DNA has been studied with a variety of theoretical and…
The formation of bubbles in nucleic acids (NAs) are fundamental in many biological processes such as DNA replication, recombination, telomeres formation, nucleotide excision repair, as well as RNA transcription and splicing. These precesses…
We present an elastic model of B-form DNA as a stack of thin, rigid plates or base pairs that are not permitted to deform. The symmetry of DNA and the constraint of plate rigidity limit the number of bulk elastic constants contributing to a…
Functionalization of nanoparticles or colloids is increasingly being used to develop customizable "atoms". Functionalization by attaching single strands of DNA allows for direct control of the binding between nanoparticles, since…
The chiral nature of DNA plays a crucial role in cellular processes. Here we use magnetic tweezers to explore one of the signatures of this chirality, the coupling between stretch and twist deformations. We show that the extension of a…
Long range charge transfer experiments in DNA oligomers and the subsequently measured -- and very diverse -- transport response of DNA wires in solid state experiments exemplifies the need for a thorough theoretical understanding of charge…
The two strands of the DNA double helix can be `unzipped' by application of 15 pN force. We analyze the dynamics of unzipping and rezipping, for the case where the molecule ends are separated and re-approached at constant velocity. For…
A double stranded DNA molecule under the stress of a pulling force acting on the strand terminals exhibits a partially denatured structure or can be completely unzipped depending the magnitude of the pulling force. A scaling argument for…
The distances over which biological molecules and their complexes can function range from a few nanometres, in the case of folded structures, to millimetres, for example during chromosome organization. Describing phenomena that cover such…
The experiment that the high spin selectivity and the length-dependent spin polarization are observed in double-stranded DNA [Science ${\bf 331}$, 894 (2011)], is elucidated by considering the combination of the spin-orbit coupling, the…
A three dimensional mesoscopic model is applied to study the properties of short DNA chains in a confining environment. The cylindrical channel is represented by a hard-wall repulsive potential incorporated in the system Hamiltonian. The…
We develop a continuum elastic approach to examining the bending mechanics of semiflexible filaments with a local internal degree of freedom that couples to the bending modulus. We apply this model to study the nonlinear mechanics of a…
By extending the classical Peyrard-Bishop model, we are able to obtain a fully analytical description for the mechanical resistance of DNA under stretching at variable values of temperature, number of base pairs and intrachains and…
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…
The theory of elastic rods can be used to describe certain geometric and topological properties of the DNA molecules. A similar effective field theory approach was previously suggested to describe the conformations and dynamics of proteins.…
As a key molecule of Life, Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the focus of numbers of investigations with the help of biological, chemical and physical techniques. From a physical point of view, both experimental and theoretical works have…
Colloidal particles grafted with single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) chains can self-assemble into a number of different crystalline structures, where hybridization of the ssDNA chains creates links between colloids stabilizing their structure.…
To gain a deeper insight into cellular processes such as transcription and translation, one needs to uncover the mechanisms controlling the configurational changes of nucleic acids. As a step toward this aim, we present here a novel…