Equilibrium melting probabilities of a DNA molecule with a defect : An exact solution of the Poland-Scheraga model

Summary, in English

In this study we derive analytically the equilibrium melting probabilities for basepairs of a DNA molecule with a defect site. We assume that the defect is characterized by a change in the Watson-Crick basepair energy of the defect basepair, and in the associated two stacking energies for the defect, as compared to the remaining parts of the DNA. The defect site could, for instance, occur due to DNA basepair mismatching, cross-linking, or by the chemical modifications when attaching fluorescent labels, such as fluorescent-quencher pairs, to DNA. Our exact solution of the Poland-Scheraga model for DNA melting provides the probability that the labeled basepair, and its neighbors, are open at different temperatures. Our work is of direct importance, for instance, for studies where fluorophore-quencher pairs are used for studying single basepair fluctuations of designed DNA molecules.

• Author: Arthur Genthon; Albertas Dvirnas; Tobias Ambjörnsson
• Department/s: Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC); Computational Biology and Biological Physics - Has been reorganised
• Publishing year: 2023-10-14
• Language: English
• Publication/Series: Journal of Chemical Physics
• Volume: 159
• Issue: 14
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0168915
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP)
• Topic: Physical Chemistry; Polymer Chemistry; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 0021-9606