dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaReversible B/A Transitions in Single DNA Molecule Immersed in A Water Drop
| Authors | Alexey K. Mazur |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0302012 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0302012 |
Abstract
Clarification of the detailed mechanisms involved in the DNA polymorphism is an important challenge for computational molecular biophysics. This paper reports about reversible A/B transitions in DNA observed in silico in a simulated titration experiment by smooth variation of the size of a water drop around a double helical solute. The estimated range of hydration numbers corresponding to the B/A transition roughly agrees with experimental data. The chain length dependence was studied and it appeared that the transition to A-form is hindered when the fragment becomes shorter than one helical turn. Dynamics of the A/B transition at low hydration is cooperative and is driven mainly by medium range electrostatic interactions of counterions sandwiched between phosphate strands in the major groove. The correspondence of these computational observations to common experimental conditions of A/B transitions is discussed.
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"abstract": "Clarification of the detailed mechanisms involved in the DNA polymorphism is\nan important challenge for computational molecular biophysics. This paper\nreports about reversible A/B transitions in DNA observed in silico in a\nsimulated titration experiment by smooth variation of the size of a water drop\naround a double helical solute. The estimated range of hydration numbers\ncorresponding to the B/A transition roughly agrees with experimental data. The\nchain length dependence was studied and it appeared that the transition to\nA-form is hindered when the fragment becomes shorter than one helical turn.\nDynamics of the A/B transition at low hydration is cooperative and is driven\nmainly by medium range electrostatic interactions of counterions sandwiched\nbetween phosphate strands in the major groove. The correspondence of these\ncomputational observations to common experimental conditions of A/B transitions\nis discussed.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0302012",
"authors": [
"Alexey K. Mazur"
],
"categories": [
"physics.bio-ph",
"physics.chem-ph",
"q-bio.BM"
],
"title": "Reversible B/A Transitions in Single DNA Molecule Immersed in A Water Drop",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0302012"
},
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