Related papers: When Knots are Plectonemes
Helices are the quintessential geometric motif of the microscale, from alpha-helices in proteins to double helices in DNA. Assembly of the helical geometry of biopolymers is a foundational step in a hierarchy of structure that eventually…
This paper aims at a comprehensive understanding on the novel elastic property of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) discovered very recently through single-molecule manipulation techniques. A general elastic model for double-stranded biopolymers…
From a nanoscience perspective, cellular processes and their reduced in vitro imitations provide extraordinary examples for highly robust few or single molecule reaction pathways. A prime example are biochemical reactions involving DNA…
The buckling and twisting of slender, elastic fibers is a deep and well-studied field. A slender elastic rod that is twisted with respect to a fixed end will spontaneously form a loop, or hockle, to relieve the torsional stress that builds.…
Knots are fascinating topological structures that have been observed in various contexts, ranging from micro-worlds to macro-systems, and are conjectured to play a fundamental role in their respective fields. In order to characterize their…
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…
We address the question, related with the origin of the genetic code, of why are there three bases per codon in the translation to protein process. As a followup to our previous work, we approach this problem by considering the…
We propose a mechanism in which two molecular knots pass through each other and swap positions along a polymer strand. Associated free energy barriers in our simulations only amount to a few $k_{B}T$, which may enable the interchange of…
We investigate the dynamics of polymer translocation through a nanopore under an externally applied field using the 2D fluctuating bond model with single-segment Monte Carlo moves. We concentrate on the influence of the field strength $E$,…
Proteins are the active working horses in our body. These biomolecules perform all vital cellular functions from DNA replication and general biosynthesis to metabolic signaling and environmental sensing. While static 3D structures are now…
Solid-state nanopore and nanopipette sensors are powerful devices for the detection, quantification and structural analysis of biopolymers such as DNA and proteins, especially in carrier-enhanced resistive-pulse sensing. However, hundreds…
We demonstrate simultaneous measurements of DNA translocation into glass nanopores using ionic current detection and fluorescent imaging. We verify the correspondence between the passage of a single DNA molecule through the nanopore and the…
We present a multiscale approach to the modeling of polymer dynamics in the presence of a fluid solvent. The approach combines Langevin Molecular Dynamics (MD) techniques with a mesoscopic Lattice-Boltzmann (LB) method for the solvent…
We consider the translocation of a one-dimensional polymer through a pore channel helped by a motor driven by a dichotomous noise with time exponential correlation. We are interested in the study of the translocation time, mean velocity and…
Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) mediate the exchange of materials between the nucleoplasm and cytoplasm, playing a key role in the separation of nucleic acids and proteins into their required compartments. The static structure of the NPC is…
Throughout our history, we, humans, have sought to better control and understand our environment. To this end, we have extended our natural senses with a host of sensors-tools that enable us to detect both the very large, such as the…
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…
Knots are entangled structures that cannot be untangled without a cut. Topological stability of knots is one of the many examples of their important properties that can be used in information storage and transfer. Knot dynamics is important…
Longitudinal resolution and lateral sensitivity are decisive characteristics that determine the suitability of a nanopore sensor for sequencing a strand of DNA as well as other important polymers. Previous modeling of DNA induced ionic…
Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are very selective filters that monitor the transport between the cytoplasm and the nucleoplasm. Two models have been suggested for the plug of the NPC. They are (i) it is a reversible hydrogel or (ii) it is a…