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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

DNA Nanotubes as a Versatile Tool to Study Semiflexible Polymers
Published on: October 25, 2017
Mechanically induced helix-coil transition in biopolymer networks
Sebastien Courty1, Joanne L Gornall, Eugene M Terentjev
1Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
The quasi-equilibrium evolution of the helical fraction occurring in a biopolymer network (gelatin gel) under an applied stress has been investigated by observing modulation in its optical activity. Its variation with the imposed chain extension is distinctly nonmonotonic and corresponds to the transition of initially coiled strands to induced left-handed helices. The experimental results are in qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions of helices induced on chain extension. This new effect of mechanically stimulated helix-coil transition has been studied further as a function of the elastic properties of the polymer network: crosslink density and network aging.
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