Strong deformations of DNA: Effect on the persistence length

TL;DR

This paper reviews an improved model for calculating DNA's persistence length considering arbitrary kinks, enhancing understanding of DNA flexibility under extreme deformations relevant to biological processes.

Contribution

It introduces an improved approach to determine DNA persistence length by accounting for various kink configurations, advancing previous models.

Findings

Enhanced the Kratky--Porod model for kink analysis

Quantified reduction in DNA persistence length due to kinks

Provided a framework for studying extreme DNA deformations

Abstract

Extreme deformations of the DNA double helix attracted a lot of attention during the past decades. Particularly, the determination of the persistence length of DNA with extreme local disruptions, or kinks, has become a crucial problem in the studies of many important biological processes. In this paper we review an approach to calculate the persistence length of the double helix by taking into account the formation of kinks of arbitrary configuration. The reviewed approach improves the Kratky--Porod model to determine the type and nature of kinks that occur in the double helix, by measuring a reduction of the persistence length of the kinkable DNA.