Equilibrium structure and deformation response of 2D kinetoplast sheets.

Autor:	Klotz AR; Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02142.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, California State University, Long Beach, CA 90840., Soh BW; Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02142., Doyle PS; Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02142; pdoyle@mit.edu.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A] 2020 Jan 07; Vol. 117 (1), pp. 121-127. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 Dec 06.
DOI:	10.1073/pnas.1911088116
Abstrakt:	The considerable interest in two-dimensional (2D) materials and complex molecular topologies calls for a robust experimental system for single-molecule studies. In this work, we study the equilibrium properties and deformation response of a complex DNA structure called a kinetoplast, a 2D network of thousands of linked rings akin to molecular chainmail. Examined in good solvent conditions, kinetoplasts appear as a wrinkled hemispherical sheet. The conformation of each kinetoplast is dictated by its network topology, giving it a unique shape, which undergoes small-amplitude thermal fluctuations at subsecond timescales, with a wide separation between fluctuation and diffusion timescales. They deform elastically when weakly confined and swell to their equilibrium dimensions when the confinement is released. We hope that, in the same way that linear DNA became a canonical model system on the first investigations of its polymer-like behavior, kinetoplasts can serve that role for 2D and catenated polymer systems. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interest.
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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