Modeling of DNA compaction by polycations
(2003) In Journal of Chemical Physics 119(15). p.8150-8157- Abstract
- In this work we study polycations as efficient compacting agents of a
medium size polyanion by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The systems
are characterized in terms of a conformational analysis in which shape,
overall dimensions, structure factors, radial distribution functions,
and the degree of accumulation of the compaction agent near the
polyanion are taken into consideration. Results show that the degree of
compaction depends on the size of the positive chais and their
number. The role of electrostatic interactions is paramount in the
compaction process, and an increase in the number of molecules of the
compacting agent or in the number of... (More) - In this work we study polycations as efficient compacting agents of a
medium size polyanion by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The systems
are characterized in terms of a conformational analysis in which shape,
overall dimensions, structure factors, radial distribution functions,
and the degree of accumulation of the compaction agent near the
polyanion are taken into consideration. Results show that the degree of
compaction depends on the size of the positive chais and their
number. The role of electrostatic interactions is paramount in the
compaction process, and an increase in the number of molecules of the
compacting agent or in the number of charges of each molecule leads to
collapse, which may be followed by some unfolding in situations of
overcharging. Compaction is associated with polycations promoting
bridging between different sites in the polyanion. When the total
charge of the polycations is significantly lower than that of the
polyanion, interaction produces only a small degree of intrachain
segregation in the latter, allowing for significant translational
motion of the compacting agent along the longer chain. However,
complete charge neutralization is not mandatory to achieve compact
forms. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/121972
- author
- Dias, Rita LU ; Pais, A A C C ; Miguel, Maria LU and Lindman, Björn LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2003
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Journal of Chemical Physics
- volume
- 119
- issue
- 15
- pages
- 8150 - 8157
- publisher
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000185703100060
- scopus:0242321243
- ISSN
- 0021-9606
- DOI
- 10.1063/1.1609985
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- ad08221d-a30e-41b1-8e84-89f766358e78 (old id 121972)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 11:48:09
- date last changed
- 2022-04-08 07:51:43
@article{ad08221d-a30e-41b1-8e84-89f766358e78,
abstract = {{In this work we study polycations as efficient compacting agents of a<br/><br>
medium size polyanion by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The systems<br/><br>
are characterized in terms of a conformational analysis in which shape,<br/><br>
overall dimensions, structure factors, radial distribution functions,<br/><br>
and the degree of accumulation of the compaction agent near the<br/><br>
polyanion are taken into consideration. Results show that the degree of<br/><br>
compaction depends on the size of the positive chais and their<br/><br>
number. The role of electrostatic interactions is paramount in the<br/><br>
compaction process, and an increase in the number of molecules of the<br/><br>
compacting agent or in the number of charges of each molecule leads to<br/><br>
collapse, which may be followed by some unfolding in situations of<br/><br>
overcharging. Compaction is associated with polycations promoting<br/><br>
bridging between different sites in the polyanion. When the total<br/><br>
charge of the polycations is significantly lower than that of the<br/><br>
polyanion, interaction produces only a small degree of intrachain<br/><br>
segregation in the latter, allowing for significant translational<br/><br>
motion of the compacting agent along the longer chain. However,<br/><br>
complete charge neutralization is not mandatory to achieve compact<br/><br>
forms. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.}},
author = {{Dias, Rita and Pais, A A C C and Miguel, Maria and Lindman, Björn}},
issn = {{0021-9606}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{15}},
pages = {{8150--8157}},
publisher = {{American Institute of Physics (AIP)}},
series = {{Journal of Chemical Physics}},
title = {{Modeling of DNA compaction by polycations}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1609985}},
doi = {{10.1063/1.1609985}},
volume = {{119}},
year = {{2003}},
}