Related papers: Complexation in Polyelectrolyte Solution with Diva…
We report on a molecular simulation method which captures the self-assembly of cationic lipid-DNA (CL-DNA) gene delivery complexes. Computational efficiency required for large length- and time-scale simulations is achieved through a…
Concentrated solutions of short blunt-ended DNA duplexes, down to 6 base pairs, are known to order into the nematic liquid crystal phase. This self-assembly is due to the stacking interactions between the duplex terminals that promotes…
The adsorption of DNA or other polyelectrolyte molecules on charged membranes is a recurrent motif in soft matter and bionanotechnological systems. Two typical situations encountered are the deposition of single DNA chains onto substrates…
Ion complexes hold the key for various energy transfer and communication systems in nature and industries. Achieving controllable mechanical and electrical properties in these complex systems is highly desirable but remains challenging. In…
The functionalities and applications of complex coacervates -- liquid condensates resulting from liquid-liquid phase separation of charged polymers -- are significantly influenced by the dispersion and aggregation states of guest…
We study mixtures of charged surfactants, which alone in solution form uni- and multilamellar vesicles, and oppositely charged polyelectrolytes (PEs). The phase behavior is investigated at fixed surfactant concentration as a function of the…
A critical advantage of electrostatic assemblies over covalent and crystalline bound materials is that associated structures can be disassembled into their original constituents. Nanoscale devices designed for the controlled release of…
In this work we study the tertiary structure of ionic surfactants when the pH in the system is modified using electrostatic dissipative particle dynamics simulations (DPD). The dependence with pH and kind of surfactant is presented. Our…
Adsorption of monovalent and multivalent cat- and anions on a deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) molecule from a salt solution is investigated by computer simulation. The ions are modelled as charged hard spheres, the DNA molecule as a point…
The accurate characterization of electrical double layer properties of nanoparticles is of fundamental importance for optimizing their physicochemical properties for specific biotechnological and biomedical applications. In this article, we…
Ionic behaviors, including ion distributions and hydration characteristics at solid-liquid interfaces, are important research interests in many important applications, such as electric double-layer capacitors and water lubrication. Here, we…
A study of a model rod-like polyelectrolyte molecule immersed into a monovalent or divalent electrolyte is presented. Results from the hypernetted-chain/mean spherical approximation (HNC/MSA) theory, for inhomogeneous charged fluids, {\ch…
Encapsulation of dsDNA fragments (contour length 54 nm) by the cationic diblock copolymer poly(butadiene-b-N-methyl 4-vinyl pyridinium) [PBd-b-P4VPQ] has been studied with phase contrast, polarized light, and fluorescence microscopy, as…
During the past years we have investigated the complexation between nanocolloids and oppositely charged polymers. The nanocolloids examined were ionic surfactant micelles and inorganic oxide nanoparticles. For the polymers, we used…
Charge inversion of a DNA double helix by an oppositely charged flexible polyelectrolyte (PE) is widely used for gene delivery. It is considered here in terms of discrete charges of DNA. We concentrate on the worst scenario case when in the…
Intracellular positive ions neutralise negative charges on the phosphates of a DNA strand conferring greater strength on the hydrogen bonds that connect complementary strands into a double helix and so confer enhanced stability. Beyond a…
The vibrational dynamics of a DNA molecule with counterions neutralizing the charged phosphate groups have been studied. With the help of elaborated model the conformational vibrations of the DNA double helix with alkaline metal ions have…
Numerous experiments on charge transfer in DNA yield a contradictory picture of the transfer: on the one hand they suggest that it is a very slow process and the charge is almost completely localized on one Watson-Crick pair, but on the…
Short blunt-ended DNA duplexes comprising 6 to 20 base pairs self-assemble into polydisperse semi-flexible chains due to hydrophobic stacking interactions between terminal base pairs. Above a critical concentration, which depends on…
Bending rigidity of a charged membrane or a charged polyelectrolyte screened by monovalent counterions is known to be enhanced by electrostatic effects. We show that in the case of screening by multivalent counterions the electrostatic…