Related papers: DNA Looping Kinetics Analyzed Using Diffusive Hidd…
DNA is subject to large deformations in a wide range of biological processes. Two key examples illustrate how such deformations influence the readout of the genetic information: the sequestering of eukaryotic genes by nucleosomes, and DNA…
The viscosity of dilute and semidilute unentangled DNA solutions, in steady simple shear flow, has been measured across a range of temperatures and concentrations. For polystyrene solutions, measurements of viscosity have been carried out…
We report model calculations on DNA single strands which describe the equilibrium dynamics and kinetics of hairpin formation and melting. Modeling is at the level of single bases. Strand rigidity is described in terms of simple polymer…
A multiscale approach is used to simulate the translocation of DNA through a nanopore. Within this scheme, the interactions of the molecule with the surrounding fluid (solvent) are explicitly taken into account. By generating polymers of…
DNA and other biopolymers differ from classical polymers due to their torsional stiffness. This property changes the statistical character of their conformations under tension from a classical random walk to a problem we call the `torsional…
The understanding of mechanisms that control epigenetic changes is an important research area in modern functional biology. Epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation are in general very stable over many cell divisions. DNA…
The model of facilitated diffusion describes how DNA-binding proteins, such as transcription factors (TFs), find their chromosomal targets by combining 3D diffusion through the cytoplasm and 1D sliding along nonspecific DNA sequences. The…
Single-molecule force spectroscopy has proven to be a powerful tool for studying the kinetic behavior of biomolecules. Through application of an external force, conformational states with small or transient populations can be stabilized,…
A simple model of DNA based on two interacting polymers has been used to study the unzipping of a double stranded DNA subjected to a periodic force. We propose a dynamical transition, where without changing the physiological condition, it…
We use a statistical mechanical model to study nonthermal denaturation of DNA in the presence of protein-mediated loops. We find that looping proteins which randomly link DNA bases located at a distance along the chain could cause a…
We calculate the equation of state of DNA under tension for the case that the DNA features loops. Such loops occur transiently during DNA condensation in the presence of multivalent ions or sliding cationic protein linkers. The…
We propose a Bayesian hidden Markov model for analyzing time series and sequential data where a special structure of the transition probability matrix is embedded to model explicit-duration semi-Markovian dynamics. Our formulation allows…
During the last decade, the laser trapping technique has been actively applied to elucidate the property of macromolecules, DNA, RNA, cytoskeleton fibres, etc. Due to the inherent difficulty in the direct trapping of single molecules at…
We derive the single molecule equation of state (force-extension relation) for DNA molecules bearing sliding loops and deflection defects. Analytical results are obtained in the large force limit by employing an analogy with instantons in…
We have developed a generalized semi-analytic approach for efficiently computing cyclization and looping $J$ factors of DNA under arbitrary binding constraints. Many biological systems involving DNA-protein interactions impose precise…
The mechanical properties of molecules are today captured by single molecule manipulation experiments, so that polymer features are tested at a nanometric scale. Yet devising mathematical models to get further insight beyond the commonly…
While the structure of chromatin has been studied in great detail on length scales below 30 nm, amazingly little is known about the higher-order folding motifs of chromatin in interphase. Recent experiments give evidence that the folding…
DNA stretching experiments are usually interpreted using the worm-like chain model; the persistence length A appearing in the model is then interpreted as the elastic stiffness of the double helix. In fact the persistence length obtained by…
The dynamics of short-lived mRNA results in bursts of protein production in gene regulatory networks. We investigate the propagation of bursting noise between different levels of mathematical modelling, and demonstrate that conventional…
In many cases, transcriptional regulation involves the binding of transcription factors at sites on the DNA that are not immediately adjacent to the promoter of interest. This action at a distance is often mediated by the formation of DNA…