Compaction of DNA on nanoscale three-dimensional templates

There exist several important in vivo examples, where a DNA chain is compacted on interacting with nanoscale objects such as proteins, thereby forming complexes with a well defined molecular architecture. One of the well known manifestations of such a natural organization of a semi-flexible DNA chain on nanoscale objects is hierarchical DNA molecule assembly into a chromosome, which is mediated by cationic histone proteins at the first stages of compaction. The biological importance of this and other natural nanostructural organizations of the DNA molecule has inspired many theoretical and numerical studies to gain physical insight into this problem. On the other hand, the experimental model systems containing DNA and nanoobjects, which are important to extend our knowledge beyond natural systems, were almost unavailable until the last decade. Accelerating progress in nanoscale chemistry and materials science has brought about various nanoscale three-dimensional structures such as dendrimers, nanoparticles, and nanotubes, and thus has provided a basis for the next important step in creating novel DNA-containing nanostructures, modelling of natural DNA compaction, and verification of accumulated theoretical predictions on the interaction between DNA and nanoscale templates. This review is written to highlight this early stage of nano-inspired progress and it is focused on physico-chemical and biophysical experimental investigations as well as theoretical and numerical studies dedicated to the compaction of DNA on nanoscale three-dimensional templates.