We characterize the equation of state for a simple three-dimensional DNA hairpin model using a Metropolis Monte Carlo algorithm. This algorithm was run at constant temperature and fixed separation between the terminal ends of the strand. From the equation of state, we compute the compressibility, thermal expansion coefficient, and specific heat along with adiabatic path.
The role of loop stacking in the dynamics of DNA hairpin formation
我们使用一个核苷酸水平的DNA粗粒度模型oxDNA研究DNA发夹形成的动力学。特别是,我们探讨了环堆积相互作用和非天然碱基配对对发夹闭合时间的影响。我们发现发夹闭合时间随温度的非单调变化,与Wallace等人的实验工作一致。Sci. USA 2001,98,5584-5589]。发夹闭合过程包括茎之间的一个或两个键的初始核的形成,随后茎的快速拉链化。在高温下,通常高于发夹熔化温度,观察到有效的负活化焓,因为核具有比开放状态低的焓。相比之下,在低温下,活化焓变为正,主要是由于弯曲环的能量成本增加,该环随着温度降低而变得越来越高度堆叠。我们表明,堆叠必须是非常强大的诱导实验观察到的行为,以及沿着环的存在,只有几个薄弱的堆叠点可以大大抑制it. Non-native碱基对观察到只有一个小的影响,略有加速发夹的形成。
We study hairpin folding dynamics by means of extensive computer simulations, with particular attention paid to the influence of helicity on the folding time $τ$. We find that the dynamical exponent $α$ of the anomalous scaling $τ\sim N^α$ for a hairpin with length N changes from 1.6 ($1+ν$) to 1.2 ($2ν$) in three dimensions, when duplex helicity is removed. The relation $α= 2ν$ in rotationless hairpin folding is further verified in two dimensions ($ν= 0.75$), and for a ghost-chain ($ν= 0.5$). This, to our knowledge, is the first observation of the theoretical lower bound on $α$, which was pre…
If a semiflexible polymer confined to a narrow channel bends around by 180 degrees, the polymer is said to exhibit a hairpin. The equilibrium extension statistics of the confined polymer are well understood when hairpins are vanishingly rare or when they are plentiful. Here we analyze the extension statistics in the intermediate situation via experiments with DNA coated by the protein RecA, which enhances the stiffness of the DNA molecule by approximately one order of magnitude. We find that the extension distribution is highly non-Gaussian, in good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations of co…
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 ribosomal frameshifting. Motivated in part by these experiments, we performed simulations using a coarse-grained model of RNA to describe the response of a PK over a range of mechanical forces ($f$s) and monovalent salt concentrations ($C$s). The coarse-grained simulations quantitatively reproduce the multistep thermal melting observed in experiments, thus va…
Using theory and simulations, we carried out a first systematic characterization of DNA unzipping via nanopore translocation. Starting from partially unzipped states, we found three dynamical regimes depending on the applied force, f: (i) heterogeneous DNA retraction and rezipping (f < 17pN), (ii) normal (17pN < f < 60pN) and (iii) anomalous (f > 60pN) drift-diffusive behavior. We show that the normal drift-diffusion regime can be effectively modelled as a one-dimensional stochastic process in a tilted periodic potential. We use the theory of stochastic processes to recover the potential from …
Overstretching of B-DNA is currently understood as force-induced melting. Depending on the geometry of the stretching experiment, the force threshold for the overstretching transition is around 65 or 110 pN. Although the mechanisms behind force-induced melting have been correctly described by Rouzina and Bloomfield \cite{RouzinaBloomfield2001a}, neither force threshold has been exactly calculated by theory. In this work, a detailed analysis of the force-extension curve is presented, based on a description of single-stranded DNA in terms of the discrete Kratky-Porod model, consistent with (i) t…
I present a Hamiltonian model and a computational method suitable to evaluate structural and thermodynamic properties of helical molecules embedded in crowded environments which may confine the space available to the base pair fluctuations. It is shown that, for the specific case of a short DNA fragment in a nanochannel, the molecule is markedly over-twisted and stretched by narrowing the width of the channel.
Complexes of cationic and neutral lipids and DNA (lipoplexes) are emerging as promising vectors for gene therapy applications. Their appeal stems from their non pathogenic nature and the fact that they self-assemble under conditions of thermal equilibrium. Lipoplex adhesion to the cell plasma membrane initiates a three-stage process termed transfection, consisting of (i) endocytosis, (ii) lipoplex breakdown, and (iii) DNA release followed by gene expression. As successful transfection requires lipoplex degradation, it tends to be hindered by the lipoplex thermodynamic stability; nevertheless, …
A kinetic theory is developed for exonuclease-deficient DNA polymerases, based on the experimental observation that the rates depend not only on the newly incorporated nucleotide, but also on the previous one, leading to the growth of Markovian DNA sequences from a Bernoullian template. The dependences on nucleotide concentrations and template sequence are explicitly taken into account. In this framework, the kinetic and thermodynamic properties of DNA replication, in particular, the mean growth velocity, the error probability, and the entropy production in terms of the rate constants and the …
Kinetic theory and thermodynamics are applied to DNA polymerases with exonuclease activity, taking into account the dependence of the rates on the previously incorportated nucleotide. The replication fidelity is shown to increase significantly thanks to this dependence at the basis of the mechanism of exonuclease proofreading. In particular, this dependence can provide up to a hundred-fold lowering of the error probability under physiological conditions. Theory is compared with numerical simulations for the DNA polymerases of T7 viruses and human mitochondria.
Literature data on the properties of DNA open states are reviewed and analyzed. These states are formed as a result of strong DNA fluctuations and have a great impact on a number of biochemical processes; among them is charge transfer in DNA, for example. A comparative analysis of experimental data on the kinetics and thermodynamics of DNA open states for a wide temperature range was carried out. Discrepancies between the results of various experiments have been explained. Three types of DNA open states are recognized based on their differences in thermodynamic properties and other characteris…
DNA is an astonishing material that can be used as a molecular building block to construct periodic arrays and devices with nanoscale accuracy and precision. Here, we present simple bead-spring model of DNA nanostars having three, four and five arms and study their self-assembly using molecular dynamics simulations. Our simulations show that the DNA nanostars form thermodynamically stable fully bonded gel phase from an unstructured liquid phase with the lowering of temperature. We characterize the phase transition by calculating several structural features such as radial distribution function …
A method is proposed to select the suitable sets of potential parameters for a one-dimensional mesoscopic Hamiltonian model, first introduced to describe the DNA melting transition and later extended to investigate thermodynamic and dynamical properties of nucleic acids. The DNA base pair fluctuations are considered as time dependent trajectories whose initial condition sets the no crossing constraint enforced in the path integral for the first-passage probability. Performing the path integration at room temperature, relations are established between the cutoff on the amplitude of the base pai…
The energetic and transport properties of a double-stranded DNA dodecamer encapsulated in hydrophobic carbon nanotubes are probed employing two limiting nanotube diameters, D=4 nm and D=3 nm, corresponding to (51,0) and (40,0) zig-zag topologies, respectively. It is observed that the thermodynamically spontaneous encapsulation in the 4 nm nanopore (40 kJ/mol) is annihilated when the solid diameter narrows down to 3 nm, and that the confined DNA termini directly contact the hydrophobic walls with no solvent slab in-between. During the initial moments after confinement (2-3 ns),the biomolecule t…
To mitigate errors induced by the cell's heterogeneous noisy environment, its main information channels and production networks utilize the kinetic proofreading (KPR) mechanism. Here, we examine two extensively-studied KPR circuits, DNA replication by the T7 DNA polymerase and translation by the E. coli ribosome. Using experimental data, we analyze the performance of these two vital systems in light of the fundamental bounds set by the recently-discovered thermodynamic uncertainty relation (TUR), which places an inherent trade-off between the precision of a desirable output and the amount of e…