Related papers: DNA as a programmable viscoelastic nanoelement
Chain-like macromolecules in solution, whether biological or synthetic, transform from a spatially extended conformation to a compact one upon change of temperature or solvent qualities. This sharp transition plays a key role in various…
It is well known that the structural deformations (stressed states) of DNA molecule play a crucial role in its biological functions including gene expression. For instance, looping in DNA (often mediated by protein binding) is a crucial…
Large-scale DNA deformation is ubiquitous in transcriptional regulation in prokaryotes and eukaryotes alike. Though much is known about how transcription factors and constellations of binding sites dictate where and how gene regulation will…
A solid-state nanopore can electrophoretically capture a DNA molecule and pull it through in a folded configuration. The resulting ionic current signal indicates where along its length the DNA was captured. A statistical study using an 8 nm…
In order to interpret recent experimental studies of the dependence of conductance of ds-DNA as the DNA is pulled from the 3'end1-3'end2 ends, which find a sharp conductance jump for a very short (4.5 %) stretching length, we carried out…
Evolving biomolecular networks have to combine the stability against perturbations with flexibility allowing their constituents to assume new roles in the cell. Gene duplication followed by functional divergence of associated proteins is a…
We consider the influence of a terahertz field on the breathing dynamics of double-stranded DNA. We model the spontaneous formation of spatially localized openings of a damped and driven DNA chain, and find that linear instabilities lead to…
We report studies of the equilibrium and the dynamics of a general set of lattice models which capture the essence of the force-induced or mechanical DNA unzipping transition. Besides yielding the whole equilibrium phase diagram in the…
Homologous gene shuffling between DNA promotes genetic diversity and is an important pathway for DNA repair. For this to occur, homologous genes need to find and recognize each other. However, despite its central role in homologous…
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 discuss theoretically the force F between two colloidal particles, each of them carrying one single strand DNA. The two strands are complementary only on a finite sequence of consecutive base pairs. We define an adjustment length (a few…
We use a coarse-grained model of DNA-functionalized particles to understand the role of DNA chain length on their self-assembly. We find that the increasing chain length for a given particle size decreases the propensity to form ordered…
DNA nanotechnology uses predictable interactions of nucleic acids to precisely engineer complex nanostructures. Characterizing these self-assembled structures at the single-structure level is crucial for validating their design and…
Base pair mismatch can relieve mechanical stress in highly strained DNA molecules, but how it affects their kinetic stability is not known. Using single-molecule Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET), we measured the lifetimes of…
The combination of self-assembly and electronic properties as well as its true nanoscale dimensions make DNA a promising candidate for a building block of single molecule electronics. We argue that the intrinsic double helix conformation of…
DNA has a well-defined structural transition -- the denaturation of its double-stranded form into two single strands -- that strongly affects its thermal transport properties. We show that, according to a widely implemented model for DNA…
The complementary strands of DNA molecules can be separated when stretched apart by a force; the unzipping signal is correlated to the base content of the sequence but is affected by thermal and instrumental noise. We consider here the…
DNA bending is biologically important for genome regulation and is relevant to a range of nanotechnological systems. Recent results suggest that sharp bending is much easier than implied by the widely-used worm-like chain model; many of…
We propose a dynamical model for non-specific DNA-protein interaction, which is based on the 'bead-spring' model previously developed by other groups, and investigate its properties using Brownian Dynamics simulations. We show that the…
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…