Monomer dynamics in double- and single-stranded DNA polymers

We present the first measurements of the kinetics of random motion of individual monomers within large polymer coils. We use double- and single-stranded DNA (dsDNA and ssDNA) as models of semiflexible and flexible polymers, respectively. Fluorescence fluctuations of DNA fragments labeled specificall...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2004-01, Vol.92 (4), p.048303-048303, Article 048303
Main Authors: Shusterman, Roman, Alon, Sergey, Gavrinyov, Tatyana, Krichevsky, Oleg
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
DNA - chemistry
DNA, Single-Stranded - chemistry
Fluorescent Dyes - chemistry
Kinetics
Models, Chemical
Molecular Weight
Nucleic Acid Conformation
Spectrometry, Fluorescence
Thermodynamics
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Summary:We present the first measurements of the kinetics of random motion of individual monomers within large polymer coils. We use double- and single-stranded DNA (dsDNA and ssDNA) as models of semiflexible and flexible polymers, respectively. Fluorescence fluctuations of DNA fragments labeled specifically at a single position reveal the time dependence of the DNA monomer's mean-square displacement . The monomer motions within dsDNA and ssDNA coils are characterized by two qualitatively different kinetic regimes: close to proportional to t(2/3) for ssDNA and proportional to sqrt[t] for dsDNA. While the kinetic behavior of ssDNA is consistent with the generally accepted Zimm theory of polymer dynamics, the kinetic behavior of dsDNA monomers is in good agreement with the Rouse model.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.92.048303