title: Thermal denaturation of a helicoidal DNA model.
abstract: We study the static and dynamical properties of DNA in the vicinity of its melting transition, i.e., the separation of the two strands upon heating. The investigation is based on a simple mechanical model which includes the helicoidal geometry of the molecule and allows an exact numerical evaluation of its thermodynamical properties. Dynamical simulations of long-enough molecular segments allow the study of the structure factors and of the properties of the denaturated regions. Simulations of finite chains display the hallmarks of a first order transition for sufficiently long-ranged stacking forces although a study of the model's "universality class" strongly suggests the presence of an "underlying" continuous transition.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique Théorique des Liquides, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France. barbi@lptl.jussieu.fr
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barbi
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lepri
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peyrard
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Theodorakopoulos
mesh_terms: D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D013696:Temperature; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D004247:DNA