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Dynamical conformational change of DNA induced by synthetic polymers: direct observation by fluorescence microscopy
K Minagawa1, Y Matsuzawa, K Yoshikawa
1Graduate School of Human Informatics, Nagoya University, Japan.
Nucleic Acids Symposium Series
|January 1, 1992
Abstract:
Brownian motion and Higher-order structure of DNA molecules complexed with synthetic polymers: poly-L-arginine (pArg) and polyacrylamide (pAAm), were observed using fluorescence microscopy. Quantitative analyses of the conformation and motion of the complexes demonstrate that these two polymers influence the structure of DNA molecules in an opposite way. The electrostatic binding of pArg induces contraction of DNA, whereas the intercalative pseudo-grafting of pAAm extends DNA.