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Updated: Oct 17, 2025

Multiscale Sampling of a Heterogeneous Water/Metal Catalyst Interface using Density Functional Theory and Force-Field Molecular Dynamics
Published on: April 12, 2019
Dissociation of the Watson-Crick base pairs in vacuum and in aqueous solution: a first-principles molecular dynamics
Cristian Ordóñez1, Daniel Martínez-Zapata1, Ruben Santamaria1
1Department of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Physics, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México.
Abstract:
The damage of the DNA structure can affect the correct functioning of the cellular processes. This work investigates the required forces to dissociate the Watson-Crick (WC) base pairs AT into A and T, and GC into G and C. The WC base pairs are immersed in water under realistic conditions of temperature, volume, and density that reproduce the main characteristics of a biological system. The simulations are based on first-principles molecular dynamics combined with steering atomic forces. In addition to the force intensities, the charge transfers between the nucleic acid bases, energy variations, and temperature fluctuations in the cleavage moments are reported. With the purpose of evaluating the effects of the aqueous medium, simulations of the WC base pairs in vacuum are included. The results considering the solvated medium are consistent with the experimental measurements, and show the importance of the aqueous solution to regulate the structural modifications of the nucleic acid bases. The investigation contributes with a novel molecular model in molecular simulations, and to better understand the biological processes where the DNA compounds play an active role in life forms.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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