Related papers: Stochastic nucleosome disassembly mediated by remo…
The macromolecules that encode and translate information in living systems, DNA and RNA, exhibit distinctive structural asymmetries, including homochirality or mirror image asymmetry and $3' - 5'$ directionality, that are invariant across…
We present a theoretical discussion of a self-assembly scheme which makes it possible to use DNA to uniquely encode the composition and structure of micro- and nanoparticle clusters. These anisotropic DNA-decorated clusters can be further…
The understanding of mechanisms that control epigenetic changes is an important research area in modern functional biology. Epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation are in general very stable over many cell divisions. DNA…
In human cells, estrogenic signals induce cyclical association and dissociation of specific proteins with the DNA in order to activate transcription of estrogen-responsive genes. These oscillations can be modeled by assuming a large number…
Fundamental questions about the role of the quaternary structures are addressed using a statistical mechanics off-lattice model of a dimer protein. The model, in spite of its simplicity, captures key features of the monomer-monomer…
A detailed stochastic model of single-gene auto-regulation is established and its solutions are explored when mRNA dynamics is fast compared with protein dynamics and in the opposite regime. The model includes all the sources of randomness…
Replication and transcription are two important processes in living systems. To execute such processes, various proteins work far away from equilibrium in a staggered way. Motivated by this, aspects of hysteresis during unzipping of DNA…
Long DNA molecules can be mapped by cutting them with restriction enzymes inside a narrow channel. Once cut, the individual fragments thus produced move away from each other due to diffusion and entropic effects. We investigate how long it…
Protein aggregation is of great importance in biology, e.g., in amyloid fibrillation. The aggregation processes that occur at the cellular scale must be highly stochastic in nature because of the statistical number fluctuations that arise…
Concentrated solutions of short blunt-ended DNA duplexes, down to 6 base pairs, are known to order into the nematic liquid crystal phase. This self-assembly is due to the stacking interactions between the duplex terminals that promotes…
When mixed together, DNA and polyaminoamide (PAMAM) dendrimers form fibers that condense into a compact structure. We use optical tweezers to pull condensed fibers and investigate the decondensation transition by measuring force-extension…
Just like atoms combine into molecules, colloids can self-organize into predetermined structures according to a set of design principles. Controlling valence -- the number of inter-particle bonds -- is a prerequisite for the assembly of…
Protein complexes involved in DNA mismatch repair appear to diffuse along dsDNA in order to locate a hemimethylated incision site via a dissociative mechanism. Here, we study the probability that these complexes locate a given target site…
Eukaryotes tune the transcriptional activity of their genome by altering the nucleosome core particle through multiple chemical processes. In particular, replacement of the canonical H2A histone with the variants macroH2A and H2A.Z has been…
Robust self-organization of subcellular structures is a key principle governing the dynamics and evolution of cellular life. In fission yeast cells undergoing division, the mitotic spindle spontaneously emerges from the interaction of…
We present a calculation technique for modeling inhomogeneous DNA replication kinetics, where replication factors such as initiation rates or fork speeds can change with both position and time. We can use our model to simulate data sets…
RSC is an essential chromatin remodeling factor that is required for the control of several processes including transcription, repair and replication. The ability of RSC to relocate centrally positioned mononucleosomes at the end of…
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…
One-dimensional arrays of nucleosomes (DNA-bound histone octamers separated by stretches of linker DNA) fold into higher-order chromatin structures which ultimately make up eukaryotic chromosomes. Chromatin structure formation leads to…
Many of the existing stochastic models of gene expression contain the first-order decay reaction term that may describe active protein degradation or dilution. If the model variable is interpreted as the molecule number, and not…