Related papers: The effect of undulations on Spontaneous Braid for…
This paper focuses on the probability that a portion of DNA closes on itself through thermal fluctuations. We investigate the dependence of this probability upon the size r of a protein bridge and/or the presence of a kink at half DNA…
Obstructions influence the growth and expansion of bodies in a wide range of settings -- but isolating and understanding their impact can be difficult in complex environments. Here, we study obstructed growth/expansion in a model system…
Adhesive cell-substrate interactions are crucial for cell motility and are responsible for the necessary traction that propels cells. These interactions can also change the shape of the cell, analogous to liquid droplet wetting on adhesive…
We present a new theory for modeling forced indentation spectral lineshapes of biological particles, which considers non-linear Hertzian deformation due to an indenter-particle physical contact and bending deformations of curved beams…
The theoretical concept that braided magnetic field lines in the solar corona may dissipate a sufficient amount of energy to account for the brightening observed in the active-region corona, has been substantiated by high-resolution…
The braiding of the solar coronal magnetic field via photospheric motions - with subsequent relaxation and magnetic reconnection -- is one of the most widely debated ideas of solar physics. We readdress the theory in the light of…
Allosteric interactions between molecules bound to DNA at distant locations have been known for a long time. The phenomenon has been studied via experiments and numerical simulations, but a comprehensive understanding grounded in a theory…
DNA adsorption and naturation is modeled via two interacting flexible homopolymers coupled to a solid surface. DNA denatures if the entropy gain for unbinding the two strands overcomes the loss of binding energy. When adsorbed to a surface,…
Genomic DNA is constantly subjected to various mechanical stresses arising from its biological functions and cell packaging. If the local mechanical properties of DNA change under torsional and tensional stress, the activity of…
We consider membranes adhered through specific receptor-ligand bonds. Thermal undulations of the membrane induce effective interactions between adhesion sites. We derive an upper bound to the free energy that is independent of interaction…
Biological filaments such as DNA or bacterial flagella are typically curved in their natural states. To elucidate the interplay of viscous drag, twisting, and bending in the overdamped dynamics of such filaments, we compute the steady-state…
It is shown that particles with braid group statistics (Plektons) in three-dimensional space-time cannot be free, in a quite elementary sense: They must exhibit elastic two-particle scattering into every solid angle, and at every energy.…
Using molecular dynamics we study the dependence of the friction force on the sliding speed when an elastic slab (block) is sliding on a rigid substrate with a ${\rm sin} (q_0 x)$ surface height profile. The friction force is nearly…
Plectonemes are intertwined helically looped domains which form when a DNA molecule is supercoiled, i.e. over- or under-wounded. They are ubiquitous in cellular DNA and their physical properties have attracted significant interest both from…
DNA is increasingly employed for bio and nanotechnology thanks to its exquisite versatility and designability. Most of its use is limited to linearised and torsionally relaxed DNA but non-trivial architectures and torsionally constrained --…
Most living systems rely on double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) to store their genetic information and perpetuate themselves. This biological information has been considered the main target of evolution. However, here we show that symmetries and…
The balance between stretching and bending deformations characterizes shape transitions of thin elastic sheets. While stretching dominates the mechanical response in tension, bending dominates in compression after an abrupt buckling…
The mechanism of threshold elongation (overstretching) of DNA macromolecules under the action of external force is studied within the framework of phenomenological approach. When considering the task it is taken into account that…
Starostin and van der Heijden [arXiv:1111.2029] question the validity of the results reported in our Letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 238104 (2010)] regarding the existence of spontaneous helical structure in finite-temperature developable…
Recent experimental data indicate that the elastic wormlike rod model of DNA that works well on long length scales may break down on shorter scales relevant to biology. According to Noy and Golestanian (Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 228101, 2012)…