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Title: Multi-shell model of ion-induced nucleic acid condensation

Journal Article · · Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4945382· OSTI ID:1253868
 [1];  [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [1]
  1. Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)
  2. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
  3. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Brown Univ., Providence, RI (United States)

We present a semi-quantitative model of condensation of short nucleic acid (NA) duplexes induced by trivalent cobalt hexammine (CoHex) ions. The model is based on partitioning of bound counterion distribution around single NA duplex into “external” and “internal” ion binding shells distinguished by the proximity to duplex helical axis. The duplex aggregation free energy is decomposed into attraction and repulsion components represented by simple analytic expressions. The source of the short-range attraction between NA duplexes in the aggregated phase is the interaction of CoHex ions in the overlapping regions of the “external” shells with the oppositely charged duplexes. The attraction depends on CoHex binding affinity to the “external” shell of nearly neutralized duplex and the number of ions in the shell overlapping volume. For a given NA duplex sequence and structure, these parameters are estimated from molecular dynamics simulation. The attraction is opposed by the residual repulsion of nearly neutralized duplexes as well as duplex configurational entropy loss upon aggregation. The estimates of the aggregation free energy are consistent with the experimental range of NA duplex condensation propensities, including the unusually poor condensation of RNA structures and subtle sequence effects upon DNA condensation. The model predicts that, in contrast to DNA, RNA duplexes may condense into tighter packed aggregates with a higher degree of duplex neutralization. The model also predicts that longer NA fragments will condense easier than shorter ones. As a result, the ability of this model to explain experimentally observed trends in NA condensation, lends support to proposed NA condensation picture based on the multivalent “ion binding shells”.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830; R01 GM099450
OSTI ID:
1253868
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-114165; WN0219080
Journal Information:
Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 144, Issue 15; ISSN 0021-9606
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 10 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (2)

Explicit ions/implicit water generalized Born model for nucleic acids journal May 2018
Counterion-Dependent Mechanisms of DNA Origami Nanostructure Stabilization Revealed by Atomistic Molecular Simulation journal September 2019

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