Propagation of twist solitons in real DNA chains

TL;DR

This study numerically investigates the propagation of twist solitons in real DNA chains, demonstrating their ability to travel significant distances despite inhomogeneities, which supports the potential biological relevance of solitonic mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides the first realistic numerical evidence that twist solitons can propagate in actual DNA sequences considering inhomogeneities.

Findings

Twist solitons can travel 2-10 times their diameter in real DNA.

Solitons can propagate despite inhomogeneities in the DNA chain.

Propagation is limited by phonon emission, but still significant.

Abstract

We report on numerical investigations concerning the propagation of solitons in a real DNA chain (the Human Adenovirus 2) using a realistic model of DNA torsional dynamics; this takes fully into account the inhomogeneities in the real chain. We find that twist solitons propagate for considerable distances (2-10 times their diameters) before stopping due to phonon emission. Our results show that twist solitons may exist in real DNA chains; and on a more general level that solitonic propagation can take place in highly inhomogeneous media.