Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 11, 2026

DNA Nanotubes as a Versatile Tool to Study Semiflexible Polymers
Published on: October 25, 2017
Multiscale model for the pretension-dependent bending properties of DNA nanotube
Han-Lin Liu1, Neng-Hui Zhang1, Cheng-Yin Zhang1,2
1Shanghai University, Shanghai Institute of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mechanics in Energy Engineering, School of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Shanghai 200072, China.
None:
The mechanical properties of DNA nanotubes (DNTs) are of great significance for studying the structure and dynamic characteristics of polymer networks. However, this information remains limited due to complex microscale interactions, multiscale structural characteristics, undefined pretension states, and characterization challenges. This paper quantifies a multiscale correlation between the bending properties of DNT and its structure- and solution-dependent pretension states. Based on existing experimental results, DNT was reduced to a multidomain structure featuring multiple parallel micrometer-sized DNA rods and periodically arranged nanoscale crossovers, and its global bending properties were characterized by extending our multiscale tensile model to incorporate the local crossover effect. The results not only reveal the mechanism in the pretension-dependent bending properties of DNT, but also lay a theoretical foundation for predicting and customizing the mechanical properties of DNT via adjusting its pretension state.
Related Concept Videos
Mechanisms of Membrane-bending
Membrane bending can happen due to intrinsic changes in lipid composition or extrinsic association with different proteins. The proteins involved...
Bending of Members Made of Several Materials
Hooke's Law determines stress in each material, stating that stress is proportional to strain but varies due to each material's...
DNA as a Genetic Template
Residual Stresses in Bending
Members Made of Elastoplastic Material
As the bending moment...
Unsymmetric Bending

