Related papers: Structurally specific thermal fluctuations identif…
A unifying theory of the denaturation transition of DNA, driven by temperature T or induced by an external mechanical torque Gamma is presented. Our model couples the hydrogen-bond opening and the untwisting of the helicoidal molecular…
The temperature dependence of DNA flexibility is studied in the presence of stretching and unzipping forces. Two classes of models are considered. In one case the origin of elasticity is entropic due to the polymeric correlations, and in…
The local opening of DNA is an intriguing phenomenon from a statistical physics point of view, but is also essential for its biological function. For instance, the transcription and replication of our genetic code can not take place without…
We calculate the spectrum of torsional vibrations of a double-stranded structure that models the double helix of the DNA. We come to the conclusion that within the framework of the model elementary excitations may display an asymmetry as…
Gene transcription by a RNA Polymerase (RNAP) enzyme requires that double-stranded DNA be locally and transiently opened, which results in an increase of DNA supercoiling downstream of the RNAP and a decrease of supercoiling upstream of it.…
A genetic switch may be realised by a certain operator sector on the DNA strand from which either genetic code, to the left or to the right of this operator sector, can be transcribed and the corresponding information processed. This switch…
Eukaryotic transcription generally occurs in bursts of activity lasting minutes to hours; however, state-of-the-art measurements have revealed that many of the molecular processes that underlie bursting, such as transcription factor binding…
The bioinformatical methods to detect lateral gene transfer events are mainly based on functional coding DNA characteristics. In this paper, we propose the use of DNA traits not depending on protein coding requirements. We introduce several…
Cells deploy robust mechanisms to repair DNA damage, safeguarding genomic stability and cellular health, but the physical principles underlying these processes remain incompletely understood. Experiments show \emph{in vitro} that upon a DNA…
We introduce a model of thermalized conformations in space of RNA -or single stranded DNA- molecules, which includes the possibility of hairpin formation. This model contains the usual secondary structure information, but extends it to the…
The binding of a transcription factor (TF) to a DNA operator site can initiate or repress the expression of a gene. Computational prediction of sites recognized by a TF has traditionally relied upon knowledge of several cognate sites,…
We develop a theory of fluctuation-driven phenomena in thermal transport in graphene double-layers. We work in the regime of electron hydrodynamics and focus on the double charge neutrality point. Although at the neutrality point charge…
To ensure fast gene activation, Transcription Factors (TF) use a mechanism known as facilitated diffusion to find their DNA promoter site. Here we analyze such a process where a TF alternates between 3D and 1D diffusion. In the latter (TF…
An important step in transcription of a DNA base sequence to a protein is the initiation from the exact starting point, called promoter region. We propose a physical mechanism for identification of the promoter region, which relies on a new…
Transcription is the first step of gene expression, in which a particular segment of DNA is copied to RNA by the enzyme RNA polymerase (RNAP). Despite many details of the complex interactions between DNA and RNA synthesis disclosed…
Theoretical analysis and fully atomistic molecular dynamics simulations reveal a Brownian ratchet mechanism by which thermal fluctuations drive the net displacement of immiscible liquids confined in channels or pores with micro- or…
The spontaneous formation of droplets via dewetting of a thin fluid film from a solid substrate allows for materials nanostructuring, under appropriate experimental control. While thermal fluctuations are expected to play a role in this…
The sequence-dependent structural variability and conformational dynamics of DNA play pivotal roles in many biological milieus, such as in the site-specific binding of transcription factors to target regulatory elements. To better…
In this paper, we show that the coarse grain model for DNA, which has been proposed recently by Knotts, Rathore, Schwartz and de Pablo (J. Chem. Phys. 126, 084901 (2007)), can be adapted to describe the thermal and mechanical denaturation…
Most living systems rely on double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) to store their genetic information and perpetuate themselves. This biological information has been considered the main target of evolution. However, here we show that symmetries and…