The development of bright bisintercalating dyes for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in the 1990s, most notably YOYO-1, revolutionized the field of polymer physics in the ensuing years. These dyes, in conjunction with modern molecular biology techniques, permit the facile observation of polymer dynamics via fluorescence microscopy and thus direct tests of different theories of polymer dynamics. At the same time, they have played a key role in advancing an emerging next-generation method known as genome mapping in nanochannels. The effect of intercalation on the bending energy of DNA as embodied by a change in its statistical segment length (or, alternatively, its persistence length) has been the subject of significant controversy. The precise value of the statistical segment length is critical for the proper interpretation of polymer physics experiments and controls the phenomena underlying the aforementioned genomics technology. In this perspective, we briefly review the model of DNA as a wormlike chain and a trio of methods (light scattering, optical or magnetic tweezers, and atomic force microscopy (AFM)) that have been used to determine the statistical segment length of DNA. We then outline the disagreement in the literature over the role of bisintercalation on the bending energy of DNA, and how a multiscale biomechanical approach could provide an important model for this scientifically and technologically relevant problem.
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February 2018
Research-Article
The Statistical Segment Length of DNA: Opportunities for Biomechanical Modeling in Polymer Physics and Next-Generation Genomics
Kevin D. Dorfman
Kevin D. Dorfman
Department of Chemical Engineering and
Materials Science,
University of Minnesota—Twin Cities,
421 Washington Ave SE,
Minneapolis, MN 55455
e-mail: dorfman@umn.edu
Materials Science,
University of Minnesota—Twin Cities,
421 Washington Ave SE,
Minneapolis, MN 55455
e-mail: dorfman@umn.edu
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Kevin D. Dorfman
Department of Chemical Engineering and
Materials Science,
University of Minnesota—Twin Cities,
421 Washington Ave SE,
Minneapolis, MN 55455
e-mail: dorfman@umn.edu
Materials Science,
University of Minnesota—Twin Cities,
421 Washington Ave SE,
Minneapolis, MN 55455
e-mail: dorfman@umn.edu
Manuscript received May 4, 2017; final manuscript received August 16, 2017; published online January 12, 2018. Editor: Beth A. Winkelstein.
J Biomech Eng. Feb 2018, 140(2): 020801 (9 pages)
Published Online: January 12, 2018
Article history
Received:
May 4, 2017
Revised:
August 16, 2017
Citation
Dorfman, K. D. (January 12, 2018). "The Statistical Segment Length of DNA: Opportunities for Biomechanical Modeling in Polymer Physics and Next-Generation Genomics." ASME. J Biomech Eng. February 2018; 140(2): 020801. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4037790
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