Article abstract
Nature Nanotechnology 1, 137 - 141 (2006)
Published online: 3 November 2006 | doi:10.1038/nnano.2006.63
Subject Categories: Computational nanotechnology | Nanobiotechnology | Structural properties
High flexibility of DNA on short length scales probed by atomic force microscopy
Paul A. Wiggins1, Thijn van der Heijden2, Fernando Moreno-Herrero2, Andrew Spakowitz3, Rob Phillips4, Jonathan Widom5, Cees Dekker2 & Philip C. Nelson6
Abstract
The mechanics of DNA bending on intermediate length scales (5–100 nm) plays a key role in many cellular processes, and is also important in the fabrication of artificial DNA structures, but previous experimental studies of DNA mechanics have focused on longer length scales than these. We use high-resolution atomic force microscopy on individual DNA molecules to obtain a direct measurement of the bending energy function appropriate for scales down to 5 nm. Our measurements imply that the elastic energy of highly bent DNA conformations is lower than predicted by classical elasticity models such as the worm-like chain (WLC) model. For example, we found that on short length scales, spontaneous large-angle bends are many times more prevalent than predicted by the WLC model. We test our data and model with an interlocking set of consistency checks. Our analysis also shows how our model is compatible with previous experiments, which have sometimes been viewed as confirming the WLC.
- Whitehead Institute, Cambridge Massachusetts 02142, USA
- Kavli Institute of NanoScience, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
- Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena California 91125, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois 60208, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Pennsylvania 19104, USA
Correspondence to: Philip C. Nelson6 e-mail: nelson@physics.upenn.edu
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