Related papers: DNA toroids form via a flower intermediate
In columnar assemblies of helical bio-molecules the azimuthal degrees of freedom, i.e. rotations about the long axes of molecules, may be important in determining the structure of the assemblies especially when the interaction energy…
Cells regulate gene expression in part by forming DNA-protein condensates in the nucleus. While existing theories describe the equilibrium size and stability of such condensates, their dynamics remain less understood. Here, we use…
To understand the mechanism of TATA-box conformational transformations we model structure mobility and find the types of conformational excitations of DNA macromolecule in heteronomous conformation. We have constructed the two-component…
A class of nucleosome remodeling motors translocate nucleosomes, to which they are attached, toward the middle of DNA chain in the presence of ATP during in vitro experiments. Such a biological activity is likely based on a physical…
DNA based nanostructures built on a long single stranded DNA scaffold, known as DNA origamis, offer the possibility to organize various molecules at the nanometer scale in one pot experiments. The folding of the scaffold is guaranteed by…
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…
Organization and maintenance of the chromosomal DNA in living cells strongly depends on the DNA interactions with a plethora of DNA-binding proteins. Single-molecule studies show that formation of nucleoprotein complexes on DNA by such…
Several controversial issues concerning the packing of linear DNA in bacteriophages and globules are discussed. Exact relations for the osmotic pressure, capsid pressure and loading force are derived in terms of the hole size inside phages…
Increasing evidence suggests that chromosome folding and genetic expression are intimately connected. For example, the co-expression of a large number of genes can benefit from their spatial co-localization in the cellular space.…
We developed the models and algorithms to describe two main artefacts of AFM: (i) broadening effect and (ii) decreased heights of profiles for individual objects adsorbed on a hard substrate. It was shown how to measure elastic properties…
A fundamental design rule that nature has developed for biological machines is the intimate correlation between motion and function. One class of biological machines is molecular motors in living cells, which directly convert chemical…
Rapid and cost-effective DNA sequencing at the single nucleotide level might be achieved by measuring a transverse electronic current as single-stranded DNA is pulled through a nano-sized pore. In order to enhance the electronic coupling…
Chromatin fibers composed of DNA and proteins fold into consecutive loops to form rod-shaped chromosome in mitosis. Although the loop growth dynamics is investigated in several studies, its detailed processes are unclear. Here, we describe…
Complex DNA topological structures, including polymer loops, are frequently observed in biological processes when protein molecules simultaneously bind to several distant sites on DNA. However, the molecular mechanisms of formation of these…
DNA cyclization is a powerful technique to gain insight into the nature of DNA bending. The worm-like chain model provides a good description of small to moderate bending fluctuations, but some experiments on strongly-bent shorter molecules…
In mechanical manipulation experiments, a single DNA molecule overwound at constant force undergoes a discontinuous drop in extension as it buckles and forms a superhelical loop (a plectoneme). Further overwinding the DNA, we observe an…
Using state-of-the-art techniques combining imaging methods and high-throughput genomic mapping tools leaded to the significant progress in detailing chromosome architecture of various organisms. However, a gap still remains between the…
During the eukaryotic cell cycle, chromatin undergoes several conformational changes, which are believed to play key roles in gene expression regulation during interphase, and in genome replication and division during mitosis. In this…
We use optical tweezers to perform stretching experiments on DNA molecules when interacting with the drugs daunomycin and ethidium bromide, which intercalate the DNA molecule. These experiments are performed in the low-force regime from…
Debates about conductivity of DNAs have been recently renewed due to contradictory results of direct measurements by use of electrical contacts to molecules. In several works it was discovered that double-stranded (ds)DNAs are conductors:…