Related papers: Structurally specific thermal fluctuations identif…
We explore in detail the structural, mechanical and thermodynamic properties of a coarse-grained model of DNA similar to that introduced in Thomas E. Ouldridge, Ard A. Louis, Jonathan P.K. Doye, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104 178101 (2010). Effective…
The denaturation of double-stranded DNA as function of force and temperature is discussed. At room temperature, sequence heterogeneity dominates the physics of single molecule force-extension curves starting about 7 piconewtons of below a…
It is well known that transcription can induce torsional stress in DNA, affecting the activity of nearby genes or even inducing structural transitions in the DNA duplex. It has long been assumed that the generation of significant torsional…
Circular double stranded DNA has different topological states which are defined by their linking numbers. Equilibrium distribution of linking numbers can be obtained by closing a linear DNA into a circle by ligase. Using Monte Carlo…
Genome-wide experiments to map the DNA-binding locations of transcription-associated factors (TFs) have shown that the number of genes bound by a TF far exceeds the number of possible direct target genes. Distinguishing functional from…
Transcription of genes is the focus of most forms of regulation of gene expression. Even though careful biochemical experimentation has revealed the molecular mechanisms of transcription initiation for a number of different promoters in…
Using a combination of theory and computer simulations, we study the translocation of an RNA molecule, pulled through a solid-state nanopore by an optical tweezer, as a method to determine its secondary structure. The resolution with which…
Transcription factors are able to associate to their binding sites on DNA faster than the physical limit posed by diffusion. Such high association rates can be achieved by alternating between three-dimensional diffusion and one-dimensional…
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…
Conformational entropy for atomic-level, three dimensional biomolecules is known experimentally to play an important role in protein-ligand discrimination, yet reliable computation of entropy remains a difficult problem. Here we describe…
A coupling of structural and thermodynamic fluctuations in the course of various-type insertion processes is investigated within a combination of Gibbsian statistics and the information theory approach. It is shown that the coupling makes…
Protein folding is a universal process, very fast and accurate, which works consistently (as it should be) in a wide range of physiological conditions. The present work is based on three premises, namely: ($i$) folding reaction is a process…
A double-stranded DNA unravels thermally through intermediate denatured bubble segments. Intrinsically, fluctuations ensue at the bubble boundaries from non-equilibrium (NE) energy exchanges with the environment. However, such details gets…
We investigate the role of bubble positioning in the force-induced melting of double-stranded DNA using two distinct approaches: Brownian Dynamics simulations and the Gaussian Network Model. We isolate the effect of bubble positioning by…
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…
Protein evolution involves mutations occurring across a wide range of time scales. In analogy with disordered systems in statistical physics, this dynamical heterogeneity suggests strong correlations between mutations happening at distinct…
The neutral mutation rate is known to vary widely along human chromosomes, leading to mutational hot and cold regions. We provide evidence that categories of functionally-related genes reside preferentially in mutationally hot or cold…
DNA supercoiling plays an important role in a variety of cellular processes. The torsional stress related with supercoiling may be also involved in gene regulation through the local structure and dynamics of the double helix. To check this…
We present direct measurements of fluctuations in the nucleus of yeast cells. While prior work has shown these fluctuations to be active and non-thermal in character, their origin and time dependence are not understood. We show that the…
We propose a new strategy to improve the self-assembly properties of DNA-functionalised colloids. The problem that we address is that DNA-functionalised colloids typically crystallize in a narrow temperature window, if at all. The…