Abstract
We present a theoretical study of binding of DNA-bending proteins to circular DNA, using computer simulations of the wormlike chain model of DNA. We find that the binding affinity is affected by the bending elasticity and the conformational entropy of the polymer and that while protein adsorption is identical on open and closed long DNA molecules, there is significant enhancement of binding on DNA minicircles, compared to their linear counterparts. We also find that the ratio of the radii of gyration of open and closed chains depends on protein concentration for short DNA molecules. Experimental tests of our predictions are proposed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 025102 |
| Pages (from-to) | 025102 |
| Journal | Journal of Chemical Physics |
| Volume | 136 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 14 Jan 2012 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by grants from the Israel Science Foundation and from the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation. Helpful discussions with Jon Widom, John Marko, and David Bensimon are gratefully acknowledged.