Related papers: Forced-unfolding and force-quench refolding of RNA…
Mechanical unfolding trajectories, generated by applying constant force in optical tweezer experiments, show that RNA hairpins and the P5abc subdomain of the group I intron unfold reversibly. We use coarse-grained Go-like models for RNA…
Experimental variables of optical tweezers instrumentation that affect RNA folding/unfolding kinetics were investigated. A model RNA hairpin, P5ab, was attached to two micron-sized beads through hybrid RNA/DNA handles; one bead was trapped…
By exerting mechanical force it is possible to unfold/refold RNA molecules one at a time. In a small range of forces, an RNA molecule can hop between the folded and the unfolded state with force-dependent kinetic rates. Here, we introduce a…
Single molecule force spectroscopy methods can be used to generate folding trajectories of biopolymers from arbitrary regions of the folding landscape. We illustrate the complexity of the folding kinetics and generic aspects of the collapse…
Mechanical unfolding of RNA structures, ranging from hairpins to ribozymes, using laser optical tweezer (LOT) experiments have begun to reveal the features of the energy landscape that cannot be easily explored using conventional…
RNA folding is a kinetic process governed by the competition of a large number of structures stabilized by the transient formation of base pairs that may induce complex folding pathways and the formation of misfolded structures. Despite of…
The sequence-dependent folding landscapes of nucleic acid hairpins reflect much of the complexity of biomolecular folding. Folding trajectories, generated using single molecule force clamp experiments by attaching semiflexible polymers to…
We apply Kramers theory to investigate the dissociation of multiple bonds under mechanical force and interpret experimental results for the unfolding/refolding force distributions of an RNA hairpin pulled at different loading rates using…
A simple zipper model is introduced, representing in a simplified way, e.g., the folded DNA double helix or hairpin structures in RNA. The double stranded hairpin is connected to a heat bath at temperature $T$ and subject to an external…
We study theoretically the denaturation of single RNA molecules by mechanical stretching, focusing on signatures of the (un)folding pathway in molecular fluctuations. Our model describes the interactions between nucleotides by incorporating…
Single-molecule force spectroscopy has opened a new field of research in molecular biophysics and biochemistry. Pulling experiments on individual proteins permit us to monitor conformational transitions with high temporal resolution and…
The refolding from stretched initial conformations of ubiquitin (PDB ID: 1ubq) under the quenched force is studied using the Go model and the Langevin dynamics. It is shown that the refolding decouples the collapse and folding kinetics. The…
RNA secondary structures of increasing complexity are probed combining single molecule stretching experiments and stochastic unfolding/refolding simulations. We find that force-induced unfolding pathways cannot usually be interpretated by…
We review the basic concepts and tools for mechanically unzipping RNA hairpins using force spectroscopy. By pulling apart the ends of an RNA molecule using optical tweezers, it is possible to measure the folding free energy at varying…
We investigate the denaturation dynamics of nucleic acids through extensive molecular dynamics simulations of a coarse-grained RNA hairpin model. In apparent contradiction with Arrhenius' law, our findings reveal that the denaturation time…
The forming and melting of complementary base pairs in RNA duplexes are conformational transitions required to accomplish a plethora of biological functions. Yet the dynamic steps of these transitions have not been quantitatively…
We describe quantitatively a RNA molecule under the influence of an external force exerted at its two ends as in a typical single-molecule experiment. Our calculation incorporates the interactions between nucleotides by using the…
Using force as a probe to map the folding landscapes of RNA molecules has become a reality thanks to major advances in single molecule pulling experiments. Although the unfolding pathways under tension are complicated to predict studies in…
We summarize the recent simulation progress of micromanipulation experiments on RNAs. Our work mainly consults with two important small RNAs unfolding experiments carried out by Bustamante group. Our results show that, in contrast to…
Because of the potential link between -1 programmed ribosomal frameshifting and response of a pseudoknot (PK) RNA to force, a number of single molecule pulling experiments have been performed on PKs to decipher the mechanism of programmed…