Counterion accumulation effects on a suspension of DNA molecules: Equation of state and pressure-driven denaturation

The study of the effects associated with the electrostatic properties of DNA is of fundamental importance to understand both its molecular properties at the single molecule level, like the rigidity of the chain, and its interaction with other charged bio-molecules, including other DNA molecules; such interactions are crucial to maintain the thermodynamic stability of the intra-cellular medium. In the present work, we combine the Poisson-Boltzmann mean-field theory with an irreversible thermodynamic approximation to analyze the effects of counterion accumulation inside DNA on both the denaturation profile of the chain and the equation of state of the suspension. To this end, we model the DNA molecule as a porous charged cylinder immersed in an aqueous solution. These thermo-electrostatic effects are explicitly studied in the particular case of some genes for which damage in their sequence is associated with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.