Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2025

DNA Tension Probes to Map the Transient Piconewton Receptor Forces by Immune Cells
Published on: March 20, 2021
Force-dependent elasticity of nucleic acids
Juan Luengo-Márquez1,2, Juan Zalvide-Pombo1, Rubén Pérez1,3
1Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain. juan.luengo@uam.es.
Abstract:
The functioning of double-stranded (ds) nucleic acids (NAs) in cellular processes is strongly mediated by their elastic response. These processes involve proteins that interact with dsDNA or dsRNA and distort their structures. The perturbation of the elasticity of NAs arising from these deformations is not properly considered by most theoretical frameworks. In this work, we introduce a novel method to assess the impact of mechanical stress on the elastic response of dsDNA and dsRNA through the analysis of the fluctuations of the double helix. Application of this approach to atomistic simulations reveals qualitative differences in the force dependence of the mechanical properties of dsDNA with respect to those of dsRNA, which we relate to structural features of these molecules by means of physically-sound minimalistic models.
Related Concept Videos
Mechanical Protein Functions
Hooke's Law
Elastin is Responsible for Tissue Elasticity
Ligaments and tendons are made of dense regular connective tissue, but in ligaments not all fibers are parallel. Dense regular elastic tissue contains elastin fibers and...
Nucleic Acid Structure
DNA Structure
DNA...
Non-conservative Forces
Also unlike their conservative counterparts, they are path-dependent; where the object starts and stops does matter. For example, a grinding wheel applies a...
Noncovalent Attractions in Biomolecules
Four types of noncovalent interactions are hydrogen bonds, van der Waals forces, ionic bonds, and hydrophobic interactions.
Hydrogen bonding results from the electrostatic attraction of a hydrogen atom covalently bonded to a strong-electronegative atom like oxygen,...

