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Updated: Jul 22, 2026

Analyzing and Building Nucleic Acid Structures with 3DNA
Published on: April 26, 2013
[Mechanism of B-A transition in the DNA molecule with elastic interaction between sugars and nitrous bases]
V O Ponomarev1, E S Shikhovtseva
1Institute of Physics of Molecules and Crystals, Ufa Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia.
Abstract:
A two-component model with elastic interactions between subsystems was proposed, which describes conformational transitions in the DNA molecule. The model is applicable for the description of B-->A transitions in the DNA molecule. It is shown that conformational excitations propagate along the macromolecule via stable topological solutions having a definite velocity. Two types of solutions can be distinguished: exciting and reducing. The exciting solution realizes the transition of sugar from the ground state to a metastable state; in this process, the distance between complementary bases increases. The reducing solution is formed behind the exciting solution and realizes a reverse transition.
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