Related papers: Rigidity of Melting DNA
The mechanical separation of the double helical DNA structure induced by forces pulling apart the two DNA strands (``unzipping'') has been the subject of recent experiments. Analytical results are obtained within various models of…
When the DNA double helix is subjected to external forces it can stretch elastically to elongations reaching 100% of its natural length. These distortions, imposed at the mesoscopic or macroscopic scales, have a dramatic effect on…
Using analytical approach and Monte-Carlo (MC) simulations, we study the elastic behaviour of the intrinsically twisted elastic ribbons with bending anisotropy, such as double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), in two-dimensional (2D) confinement. We…
Overstretching of B-DNA is currently understood as force-induced melting. Depending on the geometry of the stretching experiment, the force threshold for the overstretching transition is around 65 or 110 pN. Although the mechanisms behind…
We characterize the equilibrium thermodynamics of a thick polymer confined in a spherical region of space. This is used to gain insight into the DNA packaging process. The experimental reference system for the present study is the recent…
The symmetries of the DNA double helix require a new term in its linear response to stress: the coupling between twist and stretch. Recent experiments with torsionally-constrained single molecules give the first direct measurement of this…
We investigate the statistical mechanics of a torsionally constrained polymer. The polymer is modeled as a fluctuating rod with bend stiffness A kT and twist stiffness C kT. In such a model, thermal bend fluctuations couple geometrically to…
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…
We predict various detectable mechanical responses to the presence of local DNA defects which are defined as short DNA segments exhibiting mechanical properties obviously different from the 50 nm persistence length based semiflexible…
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)…
We develop further a statistical model coupling denaturation and chain conformations in DNA (Palmeri J, Manghi M and Destainville N 2007 Phys. Rev. Lett. 99 088103). Our Discrete Helical Wormlike Chain model takes explicitly into account…
We study the elastic response of a worm-like polymer chain with reversible kink-like structural defects. This is a generic model for (a) the double-stranded DNA with sharp bends induced by binding of certain proteins, and (b) effects of…
The effect of electrostatic interactions on the stretching of DNA is investigated using a simple worm like chain model. In the limit of small force there are large conformational fluctuations which are treated using a self-consistent…
The subject of this report is the dynamics of elastic system in conjunction with hydrogen bonds of the DNA. We draw attention to the draw-back of the familiar rod model of the DNA, and make a case of constructing models that could…
The elastic properties of semiflexible polymers are of great importance in biology. There are experiments on biopolymers like double stranded DNA, which twist and stretch single molecules to probe their elastic properties. It is known that…
We present a phenomenological dynamical model able to describe the stretching features of the curve of DNA length vs applied force. As concerns the chain, the model is based on the discrete wormlike chain model with elastic modifications,…
By combining analytical theory and Molecular Dynamics simulations we study the relaxation dynamics of DNA circular plasmids that initially undergo a local twist perturbation. We identify three distinctive time scales; (I) a rapid relaxation…
In this paper we consider the anharmonic corrections to the anisotropic elastic rod model for DNA. Our model accounts for the difference between the bending energies of positive and negative rolls, which comes from the asymmetric structure…
Gel electrophoresis is a powerful experimental method to probe the topology of DNA and other biopolymers. While there is a large body of experimental work which allows us to accurately separate different topoisomers of a molecule, a full…
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…