Related papers: Structure of DNA-Functionalized Dendrimer Nanopart…
The static and dynamic properties of dendrimers in semidilute solutions of linear chains of comparable size are investigated using Brownian dynamics simulations. The radius of gyration and diffusivity of a wide variety of low generation…
Single-filament tracing has been a valuable tool to directly determine geometrical and mechanical properties of entangled polymer networks. However, systematically verifying how the stiffness of the tracer filament or its molecular…
In recent years significant attention has been attracted to proposals which utilize DNA for nanotechnological applications. Potential applications of these ideas range from the programmable self-assembly of colloidal crystals, to biosensors…
The two strands of a DNA molecule with a repetitive sequence can pair into many different basepairing patterns. For perfectly periodic sequences, early bulk experiments of Poerschke indicate the existence of a sliding process, permitting…
At the cutting edge of materials science, matter is designed to self-organize into structures that perform a wide range of functions. The past two decades have witnessed major innovations in the versatility of building blocks, ranging from…
We evaluate, by means of molecular dynamics simulations employing a realistic DNA coarse-grained model, the phase behaviour and the structural and dynamic properties of tetravalent DNA nanostars, i.e. nanoconstructs completely made of DNA.…
We present a theoretical study of single-stranded DNA under stretching. Within the proposed framework, the effects of basepairing on the mechanical response of the molecule can be studied in combination with an arbitrary underlying model of…
Nanolayered lamellae are common structures in nanoscience and nanotechnology, but most are nearly symmetric in layer thickness. Here, we report on the structure and mechanics of highly asymmetric and thermodynamically stable soft--hard…
Multivalent interactions between deformable mesoscopic units are ubiquitous in biology, where membrane macromolecules mediate the interactions between neighbouring living cells and between cells and solid substrates. Lately, analogous…
Increasing the energy density in electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs), also known as supercapacitors, remains an active area of research. Specifically, there is a need to design and discover electrode and electrolyte materials with…
Polymeric single-chain nanoparticles (SCNPs) are soft nano-objects synthesized by purely intramolecular cross-linking of single polymer chains. By means of computer simulations, we investigate the conformational properties of SCNPs as a…
The flexibility and stiffness of small DNA play a fundamental role ranging from several biophysical processes to nano-technological applications. Here, we estimate the mechanical properties of short double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) having length…
G-quadruplexes (G4s) are helical four-stranded structures forming from guanine-rich nucleic acid sequences, which are thought to play a role in cancer development and malignant transformation. Most current studies focus on G4 monomers, yet…
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…
Recent advances in operating and manipulating DNA have provided unique experimental possibilities in many fields of DNA research, especially in gene therapy. Researchers have deployed many techniques, experimental and theoretical, to study…
We propose a combined experimental (Atomic Force Microscopy) and theoretical study of the structural and dynamical properties of nucleosomes. In contrast to biochemical approaches, this method allows to determine simultaneously the DNA…
The structural features of polystyrene brushes grafted on spherical silica nanoparticles immersed in polystyrene are investigated by means of a Monte Carlo methodology based on polymer mean field theory. The nanoparticle radii (either 8 nm…
DNA toroids are compact torus-shaped bundles formed by one or multiple DNA molecules being condensed from the solution due to various condensing agents. It has been shown that the DNA toroidal bundles are twisted. However, the global…
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…
Single molecule force spectroscopy of DNA strands adsorbed at surfaces is a powerful technique used in air or liquid environments to quantify their mechanical properties. Although the force responses are limited to unfolding events so far,…