Related papers: Extension, Torque and Supercoiling in Single, Stre…
We use the worm-like chain model to study supercoiling of DNA under tension and torque. The model reproduces experimental data for a much broader range of forces, salt concentrations and contour lengths than previous approaches. Our theory…
The denaturation transition of circular DNA is studied within a Poland-Scheraga type approach, generalized to account for the fact that the total linking number (LK), which measures the number of windings of one strand around the other, is…
DNA loop formation is one of several mechanisms used by organisms to regulate genes. The free energy of forming a loop is an important factor in determining whether the associated gene is switched on or off. In this paper we use an elastic…
We report a structural polymorphism of the S-DNA when a canonical B-DNA is stretched under different pulling protocols and provide a fundamental molecular understanding of the DNA stretching mechanism. Extensive all atom molecular dynamics…
We show how single-molecule unzipping experiments can provide strong evidence that the zero-force melting transition of long molecules of natural dsDNA should be classified as a phase transition of the higher-order type (continuous). We…
The temperature dependence of DNA flexibility is studied in the presence of stretching and unzipping forces. Two classes of models are considered. In one case the origin of elasticity is entropic due to the polymeric correlations, and in…
We introduce a coarse-grained model of DNA with bases modeled as rigid-body ellipsoids to capture their anisotropic stereochemistry. Interaction potentials are all physicochemical and generated from all-atom simulation/parameterization with…
A dynamical model is presented for chiral change in DNA molecules. The model is an extension of the conventional elastic model which incorporates the structure of base pairs and uses a spinor representation for the DNA configuration…
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 stretched DNA molecule which is also under- or overwound, undergoes a buckling transition forming intertwined looped domains called plectonemes. Here we develop a simple theory that extends the two-phase model of stretched supercoiled…
For an understanding of DNA elasticity at high mechanical loads (F > 30 pN), its helical nature needs to be taken into account, in the form of coupling between the twist and stretch degrees of freedom. The prevailing model for DNA…
Experiments measuring DNA extension in nanochannels are at odds with even the most basic predictions of current scaling arguments for the conformations of confined semiflexible polymers such as DNA. We show that a theory based on a weakly…
We introduce a model of thermalized conformations in space of RNA -or single stranded DNA- molecules, which includes the possibility of hairpin formation. This model contains the usual secondary structure information, but extends it to the…
The recently proposed compressed backbone theory suggested that the intrinsic curvature in DNA can result from a geometric mismatch between the specific backbone length and optimal base stacking orientations. It predicted that the curvature…
DNA torsion dynamics is essential in the transcription process; simple models for it have been proposed by several authors, in particular Yakushevich (Y model). These are strongly related to models of DNA separation dynamics such as the one…
We introduce a model of proteins in which all of the key atoms in the protein backbone are accounted for, thus extending the Freely Rotating Chain model. We use average bond lengths and average angles from the Protein Databank as input…
When pulled along the axis, double-strand DNA undergoes a large conformational change and elongates roughly twice its initial contour length at a pulling force about 70 pN. The transition to this highly overstretched form of DNA is very…
The free energy of looping DNA by proteins and protein complexes determines to what extent distal DNA sites can affect each other. We inferred its in vivo value through a combined computational-experimental approach for different lengths of…
In this review we focus on the idea of establishing connections between the mechanical properties of DNAligand complexes and the physical chemistry of DNA-ligand interactions. This type of connection is interesting because it opens the…
The complex mechanisms governing charge migration in DNA oligomers reflect the rich structural and electronic properties of the molecule of life. Controlling the mechanical stability of DNA nanowires in charge transport experiments is a…