Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Structural polymorphism of DNA-dendrimer complexes.

Heather M Evans1, A Ahmad, K Ewert

  • 1Materials Department, Physics Department, and Biomolecular Science and Engineering Program, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.

Physical Review Letters
|August 26, 2003
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Measurement of the [Formula: see text] production cross section in the all-jets final state in pp collisions at [Formula: see text][Formula: see text].

The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields·2016
Same author

Event generator tunes obtained from underlying event and multiparton scattering measurements.

The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields·2016
Same author

Endoxifen, a New Treatment Option for Mania: A Double-Blind, Active-Controlled Trial Demonstrates the Antimanic Efficacy of Endoxifen.

Clinical and translational science·2016
Same author

Rational Design and Synthesis of Biologically Active Disubstituted 2(3H) Furanones and Pyrrolone Derivatives as Potent and Safer Non Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Agents.

Anti-inflammatory & anti-allergy agents in medicinal chemistry·2016
Same author

The impact of age on nodal metastases and survival in gastric cancer.

The Journal of surgical research·2016
Same author

Frequency of kidney diseases and clinical indications of pediatric renal biopsy: A single center experience.

Indian journal of nephrology·2016
Same journal

Erratum: Spectroscopy and Ground-State Transfer of Ultracold Bosonic ^{39}K^{133}Cs Molecules [Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 203401 (2025)].

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Erratum: Lifetime of the ^{2}F_{7/2} Level in Yb^{+} for Spontaneous Emission of Electric Octupole Radiation [Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 213001 (2021)].

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Laser-Plasma Based Seeded Free Electron Laser in the High-Gain Regime.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Parent Hamiltonians for Stabilizer Quantum Many-Body Scars.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Properties of Heavy Cosmic Nuclei Phosphorus, Chlorine, Argon, Potassium, and Calcium: Results from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Role of Spin-Isospin Symmetries in Nuclear β-Decays.

Physical review letters·2026
See all related articles

Synthetic cationic dendrimers induce novel DNA structural transitions, revealing complex phase behavior and instability near the isoelectric point. This finding advances understanding of DNA condensation mechanisms.

Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Materials Science
  • Polymer Chemistry

Background:

  • DNA condensation is crucial for cellular function, typically mediated by small cations or histones.
  • Understanding DNA complexation with synthetic polymers is key to developing novel biomaterials and gene delivery systems.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the phase behavior of DNA complexed with synthetic cationic dendrimers.
  • To characterize the structural transitions and identify factors influencing DNA condensation.

Main Methods:

  • Synchrotron X-ray scattering was employed to study the structural properties of DNA-dendrimer complexes.
  • Systematic variation of dendrimer charge and concentration allowed for phase behavior mapping.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Unexpected structural transitions were observed, including columnar mesophases with square and hexagonal symmetries, and liquid-like disorder.
  • The isoelectric point was identified as a region of significant structural instability.
  • A model involving competing electrostatic and entropic forces was proposed to explain the observed phenomena.

Conclusions:

  • Synthetic cationic dendrimers can induce diverse and complex structural arrangements of DNA.
  • The interplay between electrostatic interactions and counterion release drives DNA condensation phase transitions.
  • These findings offer insights into DNA packaging and the design of DNA-based nanostructures.