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The extensional rheology of polymeric liquids has been extensively examined through experiments and theoretical predictions. However, a systematic study of the extensional rheology of polymer solutions in the semidilute regime, in terms of…
Organic metal halide hybrids with low-dimensional structures at the molecular level have received great attention recently for their exceptional structural tunability and unique photophysical properties. Here we report for the first time…
DNA nanostructures with programmable shape and interactions can be used as building blocks for the self-assembly of crystalline materials with prescribed nanoscale features, holding a vast technological potential. Structural rigidity and…
A revised Marko-Siggia elastic model for DNA double helix [Macromolecules 27, 981 (1994)] is proposed, which includes the WLC bending energy and a new chiral twisting energy term. It is predicted that the mean helical repeat length (HRL)…
Short blunt-ended DNA duplexes comprising 6 to 20 base pairs self-assemble into polydisperse semi-flexible chains due to hydrophobic stacking interactions between terminal base pairs. Above a critical concentration, which depends on…
Structuring of DNA counterions around the double helix has been studied by the molecular dynamics method. A DNA dodecamer d(CGCGAATTCGCG) in water solution with the alkali metal counterions Na$^{+}$, K$^{+}$, and Cs$^{+}$ has been…
The combination of self-assembly and electronic properties as well as its true nanoscale dimensions make DNA a promising candidate for a building block of single molecule electronics. We argue that the intrinsic double helix conformation of…
I present a Hamiltonian model and a computational method suitable to evaluate structural and thermodynamic properties of helical molecules embedded in crowded environments which may confine the space available to the base pair fluctuations.…
The dielectrophoresis method for trapping and attaching nanoscale double-stranded DNA between nanoelectrodes was developed. The method gives a high yield of trapping single or a few molecules only which enables transport measurements at the…
A theory is presented for the binding of small molecules such as surfactants to semiflexible polymers. The persistence length is assumed to be large compared to the monomer size but much smaller than the total chain length. Such polymers…
Nucleosomes organize the folding of DNA into chromatin and significantly influence transcription, replication, regulation and repair. All atom molecular dynamics simulations of a nucleosome and of its 146 basepairs of DNA free in solution…
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…
The two strands of the DNA double helix can be `unzipped' by application of 15 pN force. We analyze the dynamics of unzipping and rezipping, for the case where the molecule ends are separated and re-approached at constant velocity. For…
Polymer composites are ubiquitous in biology and industry alike, owing to their emergent desirable mechanical properties not attainable in single-species systems. At the same time, polymer topology has been shown to play a key role in…
Complementary strands in DNA double helix show temporary fluctuational openings which are essential to biological functions such as transcription and replication of the genetic information. Such large amplitude fluctuations, known as the…
Recent progress has been made in the understanding of the physical properties of chromatin -- the dense complex of DNA and histone proteins that occupies the nuclei of plant and animal cells. Here I will focus on the two lowest levels of…
The computational modelling of DNA is becoming crucial in light of new advances in DNA nanotechnology, single-molecule experiments and in vivo DNA tampering. Here we present a mesoscopic model for double stranded DNA (dsDNA) at the single…
Molecular recognition between two double stranded (ds) DNA with homologous sequences may not seem compatible with the B-DNA structure because the sequence information is hidden when it is used for joining the two strands. Nevertheless, it…
The electrodynamic response of DNA in the millimeter wave range is investigated. By performing measurements under a wide range of humidity conditions and comparing the response of single strand DNA and double strand DNA, we show that the…
The sequence-dependent structural variability and conformational dynamics of DNA play pivotal roles in many biological milieus, such as in the site-specific binding of transcription factors to target regulatory elements. To better…