Related papers: Active Loop Extrusion guides DNA-Protein Condensat…
Although a vast amount of experimental information is available on the elongation, compression, and folding of proteins in biochemical processes, very little is known about the real structure and molecular dynamics of DNA at an atomic…
We use Brownian dynamics simulations to study the formation of chromatin loops through diffusive sliding of slip-link-like proteins, mimicking the behaviour of cohesin molecules. We recently proposed that diffusive sliding is sufficient to…
The three-dimensional organization of chromatin is thought to play an important role in controlling gene expression. Specificity in expression is achieved through the interaction of transcription factors and other nuclear proteins with…
Cooperativity plays an important role in the action of proteins bound to DNA. A simple, mechanical mechanism for cooperativity, in the form of a tension-mediated interaction between proteins bound to DNA at two different locations is…
Cells operate in part by compartmentalizing chemical reactions. For example, recent work has shown that chromatin, the material that contains the cell's genome, can auto-regulate its structure by utilizing reaction products (proteins, RNA)…
We study the compression and extension dynamics of a DNA-like polymer interacting with non-DNA binding and DNA-binding proteins, by means of computer simulations. The geometry we consider is inspired by recent experiments probing the…
An active loop-extrusion mechanism is regarded as the main out--of--equilibrium mechanism responsible for the structuring of megabase-sized domains in chromosomes. We developed a model to study the dynamics of the chromosome fibre by…
Genetic information is stored in a linear sequence of base-pairs; however, thermal fluctuations and complex DNA conformations such as folds and loops make it challenging to order genomic material for in vitro analysis. In this work, we…
DNA methylation is a primary layer of epigenetic modification that plays a pivotal role in the regulation of development, aging, and cancer. The concurrent activity of opposing enzymes that mediate DNA methylation and demethylation gives…
This paper introduces the use of cable dynamics models as a means to explore the mechanics of DNA on long-length scales. It is on these length scales that DNA forms twisted and curved three-dimensional shapes known as supercoils and loops.…
Chromatin loop extrusion is a popular model for the formation of CTCF loops and topological domains. Recent HiC data have revealed a strong bias in favour of a particular arrangement of the CTCF binding motifs that stabilize loops, and…
DNA in sperm cells must undergo an extreme compaction to almost crystalline packing levels. To produce this dense packing, DNA is condensed by protamine, a positively charged protein that loops the DNA into a toroid. Our goal is to…
Structural changes in giant DNA induced by the addition of the flexible polymer PEG were examined by the method of single-DNA observation. In dilute DNA conditions, individual DNA assumes a compact state via a discrete coil-globule…
We use the "magnetic tweezers" technique to reveal the structural transitions that DNA undergoes in the force-torsion space. In particular, we focus on regions corresponding to negative supercoiling. These regions are characterized by the…
The distance-resolved effective interaction potential between two parallel DNA molecules is calculated by computer simulations with explicit tetravalent counterions and monovalent salt. Adding counterions first yields an attractive minimum…
The dynamics of loops at the DNA denaturation transition is studied. A scaling argument is used to evaluate the asymptotic behavior of the autocorrelation function of the state of complementary bases (either open or closed). The long-time…
Many fundamental biological processes are regulated by protein-DNA complexes called {\it synaptosomes}, which possess multiple interaction sites. Despite the critical importance of synaptosomes, the mechanisms of their formation remain not…
We study the dynamics of DNA hairpin formation using oxDNA, a nucleotide-level coarse-grained model of DNA. In particular, we explore the effects of the loop stacking interactions and non-native base pairing on the hairpin closing times. We…
The absorption of ultraviolet light creates excitations in DNA, which subsequently start moving in the helix. Their fate is important for an understanding of photo damage, and is determined by the interplay of electronic couplings between…
Bacterial chromosome replication occurs in the absence of a canonical spindle apparatus; yet it reliably produces organised and segregated genomes. While both passive and active mechanisms have been investigated, DNA replication itself is a…