The mechanism of the emergence of distinct overstretched DNA states
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022 (China)
- State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130023 (China)
Although multiple overstretched DNA states were identified in experiments, the mechanism of the emergence of distinct states is still unclear. Molecular dynamics simulation is an ideal tool to clarify the mechanism, but the force loading rates in stretching achieved by conventional all-atom DNA models are much faster, which essentially affect overstretching states. We employed a modified coarse-grained DNA model with an unprecedented low loading rate in simulations to study the overstretching transitions of end-opened double-stranded DNA. We observed two-strand peeling off for DNA with low stability and the S-DNA with high stability under tension. By introducing a melting-forbidden model which prevents base-pair breaking, we still observed the overstretching transition induced by the formation of S-DNA due to the change of dihedral angle. Hence, we confirmed that the competition between the two strain-softening manners, i.e., base-pair breaking and dihedral angle variation, results in the emergence of distinct overstretched DNA states.
- OSTI ID:
- 22493649
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 144, Issue 2; Other Information: (c) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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