The effect of the median selective solution on the lamellar,spherical and gyroid structures is studied. The self-consistent field equations of the diblock copolymer solution are solved by using the reciprocal space method. It is shown that the spherical and gyroid phases have the lowest free energy in the certain range of the solution concentration. Furthermore,the phase diagram of the ordered structures in the diblock copolymer solution with the median selective solvent is calculated,which is consistent with the experimental results.
Kinesin is a stepping molecular motor travelling along the microtubule. It moves primarily in the plus end direction of the microtubule and occasionally in the minus-end, backward, direction. Recently, the backward steps of kinesin under different loads and temperatures start to attract interests, and the relations among them are revealed. This paper aims to theoretically understand these relations observed in experiments. After introducing a backward pathway into the previous model of the ATPase cycle of kinesin movement, the dependence of the backward movement on the load and the temperature is explored through Monte Carlo simulation. Our results agree well with previous experiments.
With atomic force microscopy (AFM) we systematically studied the DNA condensations on mica surfaces induced by multivalent cation spermidine. The pattern of the DNA condensates is a flat single layer, with a core in the centre and DNA wrapping around it at high density. We assume this to be a two-dimensional condensation of free coiled DNA onto negatively charged mica surfaces by the multivalent cation. The DNA molecules condense on mica surfaces via a pathway different from the formation of toroids, rods or globules in bulk solutions. We give an explanation to why toroid structures are difficult to be observed by AFM, and further discuss the relationship between DNA condensations in solutions and on mica surfaces. The present work will be helpful for understanding the behaviors of DNA on charged surfaces, which might be significantly different from that in solutions.
ZHANG XingHua HOU XiMiao JI Chao LIMing DOU ShuoXing WANG PengYe
During the assembly of many viruses, a powerful molecular motor packages the genome into a preassembled capsid. The Bacillus subtilis phage φ29 is an excellent model system to investigate the DNA packaging mechanism because of its highly efficient in vitro DNA packaging activity and the development of a single-molecule packaging assay. Here we make use of structural and biochemical experimental data to build a physical model of DNA packaging by the φ29 DNA packaging motor. Based on the model, various dynamic behaviours such as the packaging rate, pause frequency and slip frequency under different ATP concentrations, ADP concentrations, external loads as well as capsid fillings are studied by using Monte Carlo simulation. Good agreement is obtained between the simulated and available experimental results. Moreover, we make testable predictions that should guide future experiments related to motor function.
Using Brownian dynamics simulation, we studied the effect of histone modifications On conformations of an array of nucleosomes in a segment of chromatin. The simulation demonstrated that the segment of chromatin shows the dynamic behaviour that its conformation can switch between a state with nearly all of the histones being wrapped by DNA and a state with nearly all of the histones being unwrapped by DNA, thus involving the ＂cross-talking＂ interactions among the histones. Each state can stay for a sufficiently long time. These conformational states are essential for gene expression or gene silence. The simulation also shows that these conformational states can be inherited by the daughter DNAs during DNA replication, giving a theoretical explanation of the epigenetic phenomenon.
