title: Analysis of thermal melting curves.
abstract: T(m) is defined as Temperature of melting or, more accurately, as temperature of midtransition. This term is often used for nucleic acids (DNA and RNA, oligonucleotides and polynucleotides). A thermal denaturation experiment determines the stability of the secondary structure of a DNA or RNA and aids in the choice of the sequences for antisense oligomers or PCR primers. Beyond a simple numerical value (the T(m)), a thermal denaturation experiment, in which the folded fraction of a structure is plotted vs. temperature, yields important thermodynamic information. We present the classic problems encountered during these experiments and try to demonstrate that a number of useful pieces of information can be extracted from these experimental curves.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biophysique, INSERM UR565, CNRS UMR 5153, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 75231 Paris, France. mergny@vnumail.com
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Mergny
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lacroix
mesh_terms: D007700:Kinetics; D009691:Nucleic Acid Denaturation; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry*; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D013816:Thermodynamics; D044366:Transition Temperature
chemical_list: D009841:Oligonucleotides