Publications


Title : DNA Compaction in a Crowded Environment with Negatively Charged Proteins

Language: English
Type: Article
Authors: M. K. Krotova, Valentina V. Vasilevskaya, Naoko Makita, Kenichi Yoshikawa and Alexei R. Khokhlov
Journal: Physical Review Letters
Volume: 105
Number: 12
Month: 9
Year: 2010
Actual year: 2010
Pages: 32767-4
URL:   http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.128302
doi:   10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.128302
Keywords: PACS: 82.35.Pq, 82.35.Lr, 87.14.gk
Abstract: We studied the conformational properties of DNA in a salt solution of the strongly charged protein bovine serum albumin. DNA is compacted when a suitable amount of bovine serum albumin is added to the solution due to a crowding effect and strong electrostatic repulsion between DNA and bovine serum albumin, both of which carry negative charges. However, DNA undergoes an unfolding transition with an increase in the salt concentration. This observation contradicts the current understanding of polymer- and salt-induced condensation, ψ condensation. We propose a simple theoretical model by taking into account the competition between the translational entropy of ions and electrostatic interaction.

"DNA Compaction in a Crowded Environment with Negatively Charged Proteins"

M. K. Krotova, Valentina V. Vasilevskaya, Naoko Makita, Kenichi Yoshikawa and Alexei R. Khokhlov, Physical Review Letters, 105, 32767-4 (2010)