Related papers: Facilitated diffusion on confined DNA
It has long been asserted that proteins like transcription factors may locate their target in DNA sequences at rates that surpass by several orders of magnitude the three-dimensional diffusion limit thank to facilitated diffusion, that is…
We present a theoretical model of facilitated diffusion of proteins in the cell nucleus. This model, which takes into account the successive binding/unbinding events of proteins to DNA, relies on a fractal description of the chromatin which…
In bacteria, regulatory proteins search for a specific DNA binding target via "facilitated diffusion": a series of rounds of 3D diffusion in the cytoplasm, and 1D linear diffusion along the DNA contour. Using large scale Brownian dynamics…
The diffusion-controlled limit of reaction times for site-specific DNA-binding proteins is derived from first principles. We follow the generally accepted concept that a protein propagates via two competitive modes, a three-dimensional…
The model of facilitated diffusion describes how DNA-binding proteins, such as transcription factors (TFs), find their chromosomal targets by combining 3D diffusion through the cytoplasm and 1D sliding along nonspecific DNA sequences. The…
We present Brownian dynamics simulations of the facilitated diffusion of a protein, modelled as a sphere with a binding site on its surface, along DNA, modelled as a semi-flexible polymer. We consider both the effect of DNA organisation in…
Some proteins can find their targets on DNA faster than by pure diffusion in the three-dimensional cytoplasm, through the process of facilitated diffusion: They can loosely bind to DNA and temporarily slide along it, thus being guided by…
There is now a certain consensus that Transcription Factors (TFs) reach their target sites, where they regulate gene transcription, via a mechanism dubbed facilitated diffusion (FD). In FD, the TF cycles between events of 3D-diffusion in…
It is known since the early days of molecular biology that proteins locate their specific targets on DNA up to two orders of magnitude faster than the Smoluchowski 3D diffusion rate. It was the idea due to Delbruck that they are…
Cellular responses often require the fast activation or repression of specific genes, which depends on Transcription Factors (TFs) that have to quickly find the promoters of these genes within a large genome. Transcription Factors (TFs)…
Under dilute in vitro conditions transcription factors rapidly locate their target sequence on DNA by using the facilitated diffusion mechanism. However, whether this strategy of alternating between three-dimensional bulk diffusion and…
We study the impact of DNA coiling on the search rate of proteins moving along the DNA contour interspersed by three-dimensional (3D) bulk excursions. When the DNA is coiled proteins performing short 3D hops along a DNA segment can be…
We propose a dynamical model for non-specific DNA-protein interaction, which is based on the 'bead-spring' model previously developed by other groups, and investigate its properties using Brownian Dynamics simulations. We show that the…
Transcription factors are able to associate to their binding sites on DNA faster than the physical limit posed by diffusion. Such high association rates can be achieved by alternating between three-dimensional diffusion and one-dimensional…
We develop revised theoretical ideas on the mechanism by which the transcription factor proteins locate their specific binding sites on DNA faster than the three-dimensional (3D) diffusion controlled rate limit. We demonstrate that the…
We study a model for a protein searching for a target, using facilitated diffusion, on a DNA molecule confined in a finite volume. The model includes three distinct pathways for facilitated diffusion: (a) sliding - in which the protein…
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…
Recognition and binding of specific sites on DNA by proteins is central for many cellular functions such as transcription, replication, and recombination. In the process of recognition, a protein rapidly searches for its specific site on a…
Transcription factors perform facilitated diffusion (3D diffusion in the cytosol and 1D diffusion on the DNA) when binding to their target sites to regulate gene expression. Here, we investigated the influence of this binding mechanism on…
In the course of various biological processes, specific DNA-binding proteins must find a particular target sequence/protein or a damaged site on the DNA efficiently. DNA-binding proteins perform this task based on diffusion. Yet,…