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- Alizadehheidari, Mohammadreza, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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Nanoconfined Circular and Linear DNA: Equilibrium Conformations and Unfolding Kinetics
- 2015
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Ingår i: Macromolecules. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0024-9297 .- 1520-5835. ; 48:3, s. 871-878
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studies of circular DNA confined to nanofluidic channels are relevant both from a fundamental polymer-physics perspective and due to the importance of circular DNA molecules in vivo. We here observe the unfolding of confined DNA from the circular to linear configuration as a light-induced double-strand break occurs, characterize the dynamics, and compare the equilibrium conformational statistics of linear and circular configurations. This is important because it allows us to determine to what extent existing statistical theories describe the extension of confined circular DNA. We find that the ratio of the extensions of confined linear and circular DNA configurations increases as the buffer concentration decreases. The experimental results fall between theoretical predictions for the extended de Gennes regime at weaker confinement and the Odijk regime at stronger confinement. We show that it is possible to directly distinguish between circular and linear DNA molecules by measuring the emission intensity from the DNA. Finally, we determine the rate of unfolding and show that this rate is larger for more confined DNA, possibly reflecting the corresponding larger difference in entropy between the circular and linear configurations.
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| 2. |
- Freitag, C., et al.
(författare)
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Visualizing the entire DNA from a chromosome in a single frame
- 2015
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Ingår i: Biomicrofluidics. - : AIP Publishing. - 1932-1058. ; 9:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The contiguity and phase of sequence information are intrinsic to obtain complete understanding of the genome and its relationship to phenotype. We report the fabrication and application of a novel nanochannel design that folds megabase lengths of genomic DNA into a systematic back-and-forth meandering path. Such meandering nanochannels enabled us to visualize the complete 5.7 Mbp (1mm) stained DNA length of a Schizosaccharomyces pombe chromosome in a single frame of a CCD. We were able to hold the DNA in situ while implementing partial denaturation to obtain a barcode pattern that we could match to a reference map using the Poland-Scheraga model for DNA melting. The facility to compose such long linear lengths of genomic DNA in one field of view enabled us to directly visualize a repeat motif, count the repeat unit number, and chart its location in the genome by reference to unique barcode motifs found at measurable distances from the repeat. Meandering nanochannel dimensions can easily be tailored to human chromosome scales, which would enable the whole genome to be visualized in seconds. (C) 2015 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
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