Related papers: DNA sequence from the unzipping force? : one mutat…
We review statistical-mechanical theories of single-molecule micromanipulation experiments on nucleic acids. First, models for describing polymer elasticity are introduced. We then review how these models are used to interpret…
DNA-interacting proteins have roles multiple processes, many operating as molecular machines which undergo dynamic metastable transitions to bring about their biological function. To fully understand this molecular heterogeneity, DNA and…
Based on the result of an unzipping phase transition by a force in a model of DNA, we hypothesize that the DnaA-type proteins act as a pulling agent with a force slightly less than the critical force for unzipping. The dynamic (space-time)…
Synthesis of DNA molecules offers unprecedented advances in storage technology. Yet, the microscopic world in which these molecules reside induces error patterns that are fundamentally different from their digital counterparts. Hence, to…
In this work, we show that by varying the experimental conditions, the driving amplitude, a dynamic force microscope allows DNA properties to be selectively imaged. The substrate on which the DNA is fixed is a silica surface grafted with…
We study theoretically the mechanical failure of a simple model of double stranded DNA under an applied shear. Starting from a more microscopic Hamiltonian that describes a sheared DNA, we arrive at a nonlinear generalization of a ladder…
Detecting conformational transitions in molecular systems is key to understanding biological processes. Here, we investigate the force variance in single-molecule pulling experiments as an indicator of molecular folding transitions. We…
DNA flexibility is a key determinant of biological function, from nucleosome positioning to transcriptional regulation, motivating a direct measurement of the bend-torque response of individual DNA molecules. In this work, DNA bending is…
We study the unzipping of double stranded DNA (dsDNA) by applying a pulling force at a fraction $s$ $(0 \le s \le 1)$ from the anchored end. From exact analytical and numerical results, the complete phase diagram is presented. The phase…
We develop statistically based methods to detect single nucleotide DNA mutations in next generation sequencing data. Sequencing generates counts of the number of times each base was observed at hundreds of thousands to billions of genome…
We unzip DNA molecules using optical tweezers and determine the sizes of the cooperatively unzipping and zipping regions separating consecutive metastable intermediates along the unzipping pathway. Sizes are found to be distributed…
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…
In this paper we provide an alternative approach to the works of the physicists S. Cocco and R. Monasson about a model of DNA molecules. The aim is to predict the sequence of bases by mechanical stimulations. The model described by the…
We investigate irreversibility and dissipation in single molecules that cooperatively fold/unfold in a two state manner under the action of mechanical force. We apply path thermodynamics to derive analytical expressions for the average…
It is generally difficult to predict the positions of mutations in genomic DNA at the nucleotide level. Retroviral DNA insertion is one mode of mutation, resulting in host infections that are difficult to treat. This mutation process…
Solid-state nanopore DNA sequencers present mechanical and chemical stability, reusability, and large-scale integrability. However, their development is hindered by the absence of a protein-free mechanism for controlling DNA translocation,…
We have studied the separation of a double stranded DNA (dsDNA), which is driven either by the temperature or force. By monitoring the probability of opening of entire base pairs along the chain, we show that the opening of a dsDNA depends…
Analysis of single-molecule micromanipulation experiments of DNA unzipping process shows some features of the force-distance curve, namely two consequent plateaus in the area of ${\sim}12-14pN$ dependent on nucleotide sequence structure, as…
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…
We introduce a model of DNA sequence evolution which can account for biases in mutation rates that depend on the identity of the neighboring bases. An analytic solution for this class of non-equilibrium models is developed by adopting…