Structure and properties of DNA in apolar solvents
| Autor: | Annalisa Arcella, Guillem Portella, David J. Wales, Modesto Orozco, Rosana Collepardo-Guevara, Debayan Chakraborty |
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| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Předmět: |
inorganic chemicals
Molecular simulation 02 engineering and technology Molecular Dynamics Simulation 010402 general chemistry 01 natural sciences Article Molecular dynamics chemistry.chemical_compound Materials Chemistry Molecule Organic chemistry Base sequence Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Aqueous solution Base Sequence Inverted Repeat Sequences technology industry and agriculture Water DNA 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology 0104 chemical sciences Surfaces Coatings and Films Solvent chemistry Chemical physics Nucleic acid Solvents Nucleic Acid Conformation lipids (amino acids peptides and proteins) 0210 nano-technology |
| Zdroj: | The Journal of Physical Chemistry. B The Journal of Physical Chemistry B |
| ISSN: | 1520-5207 |
| Popis: | The study of nucleic acids in low-polarity environments paves the way for novel biotechnological applications of DNA. Here, we use a repertoire of atomistic molecular simulation tools to study the nature of DNA when placed in a highly apolar environment and when transferred from aqueous to apolar solvent. Our results show that DNA becomes stiffer in apolar solvents and suggest that highly negatively charged states, which are the most prevalent in water, are strongly disfavored in apolar solvents and neutral states with conformations not far from the aqueous ones are the dominant forms. Transfer from water to an apolar solvent such as CCl4 is unlikely to occur, but our results suggest that if forced, the DNA would migrate surrounded by a small shell of water (the higher the DNA charge, the larger the number of water molecules in this shell). Even the neutral form (predicted to be the dominant one in apolar solvents) would surround itself by a small number of highly stable water molecules when moved from water to a highly apolar environment. Neutralization of DNA charges seems a crucial requirement for transfer of DNA to apolar media, and the most likely mechanism to achieve good transfer properties. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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