Related papers: A model for the force stretching double-stranded c…
Loops are essential secondary structure elements in folded DNA and RNA molecules and proliferate close to the melting transition. Using a theory for nucleic acid secondary structures that accounts for the logarithmic entropy c ln m for a…
Simple expressions for the bending and the base-stacking energy of double-stranded semiflexible biopolymers (such as DNA and actin) are derived. The distribution of the folding angle between the two strands is obtained by solving a…
We discuss the physics of RNA as described by its secondary structure. We examine the static properties of a homogeneous RNA-model that includes pairing and base stacking energies as well as entropic costs for internal loops. For large…
Understanding the mechanism of protein secondary structure formation is an essential part of protein-folding puzzle. Here we describe a simple model for the formation of the $\beta$-hairpin, motivated by the fact that folding of a…
We obtain, using transfer matrix methods, the distribution function $P(R)$ of the end-to-end distance, the loop formation probability and force-extension relations in a model for short double-stranded DNA molecules. Accounting for the…
A theory of the unzipping of double-stranded (ds) DNA is presented, and is compared to recent micromanipulation experiments. It is shown that the interactions which stabilize the double helix and the elastic rigidity of single strands (ss)…
Using Langevin Dynamic simulations, we study effects of the shear force on the rupture of a double stranded DNA molecule. The model studied here contains two single diblock copolymers interacting with each other. The elastic constants of…
We study numerically the mechanical stability and elasticity properties of duplex DNA molecules within the frame of a network model incorporating microscopic degrees of freedom related with the arrangement of the base pairs. We pay special…
A microscopic theory of the free energy barriers and folding routes for minimally frustrated proteins is presented, greatly expanding on the presentation of the variational approach outlined previously [J. J. Portman, S. Takada, P. G.…
RNA secondary structures of increasing complexity are probed combining single molecule stretching experiments and stochastic unfolding/refolding simulations. We find that force-induced unfolding pathways cannot usually be interpretated by…
We present a theoretical study of single-stranded DNA under stretching. Within the proposed framework, the effects of basepairing on the mechanical response of the molecule can be studied in combination with an arbitrary underlying model of…
We present a theoretical analysis of the structural and mechanical properties of the 30-nm chromatin fiber. Our study is based on the two-angle model introduced by Woodcock et al. (Woodcock, C. L., S. A. Grigoryev, R. A. Horowitz, and N.…
A methodology for the statistical mechanical analysis of polymeric chains under tension introduced previously is extended to include torque. The response of individual bonds between monomers or of entire groups of monomers to a combination…
It had been proposed that overstretching double stranded DNA from the 5-5 ends will produce a new fiber form of dsDNA that is narrower than the S form that has been suggested to result when the dsDNA is overstretched from the 3-3 ends. We…
Exact numerical methods and stochastic simulation methods are developed to study the force stretching single RNA issue on the secondary structure level in equilibrium. By computing the force-extension curves on the constant force and the…
We apply Kramers theory to investigate the dissociation of multiple bonds under mechanical force and interpret experimental results for the unfolding/refolding force distributions of an RNA hairpin pulled at different loading rates using…
We study the force-induced unfolding of random disordered RNA or single-stranded DNA polymers. The system undergoes a second order phase transition from a collapsed globular phase at low forces to an extensive necklace phase with a…
We study theoretically the denaturation of single RNA molecules by mechanical stretching, focusing on signatures of the (un)folding pathway in molecular fluctuations. Our model describes the interactions between nucleotides by incorporating…
Nucleic acids are highly deformable helical molecules constantly stretched, twisted and bent in their biological functioning. Single molecule experiments have shown that double stranded (ds)-RNA and standard ds-DNA have opposite…
Three coarse-grained models of the double-stranded DNA are proposed and compared in the context of mechanical manipulation such as twisting and various schemes of stretching. The models differ in the number of effective beads (between two…