Pulling hairpinned polynucleotide chains: Does base-pair stacking interaction matter?

Pulling hairpinned polynucleotide chains: Does base-pair stacking interaction matter?

Force-induced structural transitions both in relatively random and in designed single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) chains are studied theoretically. At high salt conditions, ssDNA forms compacted hairpin patterns stabilized by base-pairing and base-pair stacking interactions, and a threshold external force is needed to pull the hairpinned structure into a random coiled one. The base-pair stacking inter...

Pulling Hairpinned Polymers

We introduce a model of thermalized conformations in space of RNA -or single stranded DNAmolecules, which includes the possibility of hairpin formation. This model contains the usual secondary structure information, but extends it to the study of one element of the ternary structure, namely the end-to-end distance. The computed force-elongation characteristics is in good agreemement with some r...

Stretching single-stranded DNA: interplay of electrostatic, base-pairing, and base-pair stacking interactions.

Recent single-macromolecule observations revealed that the force/extension characteristics of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) are closely related to solution ionic concentration and DNA sequence composition. To understand this, we studied the elastic property of ssDNA through the Monte Carlo implementation of a modified freely jointed chain (FJC), with electrostatic, base-pairing, and base-pair sta...

The Description of Conformations of Polynucleotide Chains

Determination of Base Binding Strength and Base Stacking Interaction of DNA Duplex Using Atomic Force Microscope

As one of the most crucial properties of DNA, the structural stability and the mechanical strength are attracting a great attention. Here, we take advantage of high force resolution and high special resolution of Atom Force Microscope and investigate the mechanical force of DNA duplexes. To evaluate the base pair hydrogen bond strength and base stacking force in DNA strands, we designed two mod...