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Modelling DNA Stretching for Physics and Biology

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Structural Biology and Functional Genomics

Part of the book series: NATO Science Series ((ASHT,volume 71))

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Abstract

We have used internal coordinate molecular mechanics calculations to study how the DNA double helix deforms upon stretching. Results obtained for polymeric DNA under helical symmetry constraints suggest that two distinct forms, a unwound ribbon and a narrow fibre, can be formed as a function of which ends of the duplex are pulled. Similar results are also obtained with DNA oligomers. These experiments lead to force curves which exhibit a plateau as the conformational transition occurs. This is behaviour is confirmed by applying an increasing force to DNA and observing a sudden length increase at a critical force value. It is finally shown some DNA binding proteins can also stretch DNA locally, leading to conformations related to those created by nanomanipulation

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Anne Lebrun

    Present address: Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, 10029, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, 13, rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005, Paris, France

    Richard Lavery & Anne Lebrun

Authors
  1. Richard Lavery
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  2. Anne Lebrun
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Life Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA

    E. Morton Bradbury

  2. Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, Gödöllõ, Hungary

    Sándor Pongor

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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Lavery, R., Lebrun, A. (1999). Modelling DNA Stretching for Physics and Biology. In: Bradbury, E.M., Pongor, S. (eds) Structural Biology and Functional Genomics. NATO Science Series, vol 71. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4631-9_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4631-9_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-5782-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4631-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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