Related papers: Nanoconfined circular and linear DNA - equilibrium…
The conformational behavior of a giant DNA mediated by condensing agents in the bulk solution has been investigated through experimental and theoretical approaches. Experimentally, a pronounced conformational hysteresis is observed for…
Recent research on silver nanowires prepared on DNA templates has focused on two fundamental applications: nano-scale circuits and sensors. Despite its broad potential, the formation kinetics of DNA-templated silver nanowires remains…
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…
A detailed description of the conformational plasticity of double stranded DNA (ds) is a necessary framework for understanding protein-DNA interactions. Until now, however structure and kinetics of the transition from the basic conformation…
Entangled ring polymers, along with blends of ring and linear polymers, continue to be a topic of great interest and debate due to the conflicting experimental results in the literature as well as the difficulty of producing entangled…
Three coarse-grained models of the double-stranded DNA are proposed and compared in the context of mechanical manipulation such as twisting and various schemes of stretching. The models differ in the number of effective beads (between two…
The influence of tension on DNA looping has been studied both experimentally and theoretically in the past. However, different theoretical models have yielded different predictions, leaving uncertainty about their validity. We briefly…
Effects of sequence disorder on looping and cyclization of the double-stranded DNA are studied theoretically. Both random intrinsic curvature and inhomogeneous bending rigidity are found to result in a remarkably wide distribution of…
We derive scaling relations for the extension statistics and the confinement free energy for a semi-flexible polymer confined to a channel with a rectangular cross-section. Our motivation are recent numerical results [Gupta {\em et al.},…
DNA migration in topologically structured microchannels with periodic cavities is investigated experimentally and with Brownian dynamics simulations of a simple bead-spring model. The results are in very good agreement with one another. In…
The double-helical structure of DNA results from canonical base pairing and stacking interactions. However, variations from steady-state conformations result from mechanical perturbations in cells. These different topologies have…
The competition between toroidal and rod-like conformations as possible ground states for DNA condensation is studied as a function of the stiffness, the length of the DNA and the form of the long-range interactions between neighboring…
The sequence-dependent elasticity of double-helical DNA on a nm length scale can be captured by the rigid base-pair model, whose strains are the relative position and orientation of adjacent base-pairs. Corresponding elastic potentials have…
Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study the equilibrium distribution of monovalent ions in a nanopore connecting two water reservoirs separated by a membrane, both for the empty pore and that with a single stranded DNA molecule…
By combining analytical results and simulations of various coarse-grained models we investigate the minimal energy shape of DNA minicircles which are torsionally constrained by an imposed over or undertwist. We show that twist-bend…
The dynamics of polymer translocation through a pore has been the subject of recent theoretical and experimental works. We have considered theoretical estimates and performed computer simulations to understand the mechanism of DNA uptake…
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…
Many structures inside the cell such as nucleosomes and protein-mediated DNA loops contain sharply bent double-stranded (ds) DNA. Therefore, the energetics of strong dsDNA bending constitutes an essential part of cellular thermodynamics.…
The volume occupied by unconstrained bacterial DNA in physiological solutions exceeds 1000 times the volume of the cell. Still, it is confined to a well defined region of the cell called the nucleoid, which occupies only a fraction of the…
Interest in studying the interaction of small molecules with DNA is caused by the need to develop new, highly effective, and low-toxic drugs for cancer treatment. The strong and highly specific binding of thionine with DNA makes it a…