{
  "annotation_id": "25138541-d2bd-4538-90c5-10be7dbdae65",
  "date_created": "2026-03-02T18:00:42.874000Z",
  "date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:00:42.874000Z",
  "file_hash": "66d56840a7a21a1f37c36603dc812ef036a4fbce6b5e80e3dfcadf9aac6f5d4b",
  "private": false,
  "record": {
    "abstract": "Helicase opening of double-stranded nucleic acids may be \"active\" (the\nhelicase directly destabilizes the dsNA to promote opening) or \"passive\" (the\nhelicase binds ssNA available due to a thermal fluctuation which opens part of\nthe dsNA). We describe helicase opening of dsNA, based on helicases which bind\nsingle NA strands and move towards the double-stranded region, using a discrete\n``hopping\u0027\u0027 model. The interaction between the helicase and the junction where\nthe double strand opens is characterized by an interaction potential. The form\nof the potential determines whether the opening is active or passive. We\ncalculate the rate of passive opening for the helicase PcrA, and show that the\nrate increases when the opening is active. Finally, we examine how to choose\nthe interaction potential to optimize the rate of strand separation. One\nimportant result is our finding that active opening can increase the unwinding\nrate by 7 fold compared to passive opening.",
    "arxiv_id": "physics/0212045",
    "authors": [
      "M. D. Betterton",
      "F. Julicher"
    ],
    "categories": [
      "physics.bio-ph",
      "cond-mat.soft",
      "q-bio.BM"
    ],
    "doi": "10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.258103",
    "journal_ref": "Physical Review Letters vol 91, 258103 (2003)",
    "title": "Opening of DNA double strands by helicases. Active versus passive   opening",
    "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0212045"
  },
  "schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
  "source": {
    "execution_id": "6d85deec-944a-4e47-9a72-dd893c9b08fc",
    "id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
    "type": "Model",
    "variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
    "version": "0.1.0"
  },
  "user_id": 1000002
}