Related papers: Helicoidal model for DNA opening
Helicase opening of double-stranded nucleic acids may be "active" (the helicase directly destabilizes the dsNA to promote opening) or "passive" (the helicase binds ssNA available due to a thermal fluctuation which opens part of the dsNA).…
Simple elastic network models of DNA were developed to reveal the structure-dynamics relationships for several nucleotide sequences. First, we propose a simple all-atom elastic network model of DNA that can explain the profiles of…
While the statistical mechanical description of DNA has a long tradition, renewed interest in DNA melting from a physics perspective is nourished by measurements of the fluctuation dynamics of local denaturation bubbles by single molecule…
The paper deals with the two-state (opening-closing of base pairs) model used to describe the fluctuation dynamics of a single bubble formation. We present an exact solution for the discrete and finite size version of the model that…
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.…
While the behavior of double stranded DNA at mesoscopic scales is fairly well understood, less is known about its relation to the rich mechanical properties in the base-pair scale, which is crucial, for instance, to understand DNA-protein…
An inhomogeneous helicoidal nearest-neighbor model with continuous degrees of freedom is shown to predict the same DNA melting properties as traditional long-range Ising models, for free DNA molecules in solution, as well as superhelically…
Literature data on the properties of DNA open states are reviewed and analyzed. These states are formed as a result of strong DNA fluctuations and have a great impact on a number of biochemical processes; among them is charge transfer in…
We study the static and dynamical properties of DNA in the vicinity of its melting transition, i.e. the separation of the two strands upon heating. The investigation is based on a simple mechanical model which includes the helicoidal…
We study DNA denaturation by integrating elasticity -- as described by the Gaussian network model -- with bond binding energies, distinguishing between different base-pair and stacking energies. We use exact calculation, within the model,…
Anomalous non-exponential relaxation in hydrated biomolecules is commonly attributed to the complexity of the free-energy landscapes, similarly to polymers and glasses. It was found recently that the hydrogen-bond breathing of terminal DNA…
We propose a dynamical model for the secondary structure of DNA, which is based on the finite stacking enthalpies used in thermodynamics calculations. In this model, the two strands can separate and the bases are allowed to rotate…
Nucleic acids have been regarded as stiff polymers with long-range flexibility and generally modeled using elastic rod models of polymer physics. Notwithstanding, investigations carried out over the past few years on single fragments of…
Because of the double-helical structure of DNA, in which two strands of complementary nucleotides intertwine around each other, a covalently closed DNA molecule with no interruptions in either strand can be viewed as two interlocked…
Dynamics of topological solitons describing open states in the DNA double helix are studied in the frameworks of the model which takes into account asymmetry of the helix. It is shown that three types of topological solitons can occur in…
The thermodynamic properties of DNA circular molecules are investigated by a new path integral computational method which treats in the real space the fundamental forces stabilizing the molecule. The base pair and stacking contributions to…
The theory of elastic rods can be used to describe certain geometric and topological properties of the DNA molecules. A similar effective field theory approach was previously suggested to describe the conformations and dynamics of proteins.…
We investigate the formation process of nonlinear vibrational modes representing broad H-bridge multi--site breathers in a DNA--shaped double strand. Within a network model of the double helix we take individual motions of the bases within…
It is a standard exercise in mechanical engineering to infer the external forces and torques on a body from its static shape and known elastic properties. Here we apply this kind of analysis to distorted double-helical DNA in complexes with…
The approach for the description of the DNA conformational transformations on the mesoscopic scales in the frame of the double helix is presented. Due to consideration of the joint motions of DNA structural elements along the conformational…