Quantifying DNA melting transitions using single-molecule force spectroscopy.
We stretched a DNA molecule using atomic force microscope and quantified the mechanical properties associated with B and S forms of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), molten DNA, and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). We also fit overdamped diffusion models to the AFM time series and used these models to extract additional kinetic information about the system. Our analysis provides additional evidence supporting the view that S-DNA is a stable intermediate encountered during dsDNA melting by mechanical force. In addition, we demonstrated that the estimated diffusion models can detect dynamical signatures of conformational degrees of freedom not directly observed in experiments.
Calderon
Christopher P
CP
Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.
Chen
Wei-Hung
WH
Lin
Kuan-Jiuh
KJ
Harris
Nolan C
NC
Kiang
Ching-Hwa
CH