Force-dependent elasticity of nucleic acids

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method to analyze how mechanical stress affects the elasticity of nucleic acids, revealing differences between DNA and RNA through atomistic simulations and minimalistic models.

Contribution

A novel approach to assess force-dependent elasticity of nucleic acids using fluctuation analysis, highlighting differences between dsDNA and dsRNA.

Findings

Force dependence of dsDNA elasticity differs from dsRNA

Structural features explain elasticity differences

Method applicable to atomistic simulations

Abstract

The functioning of double-stranded (ds) nucleic acids (NAs) in cellular processes is strongly mediated by their elastic response. These processes involve proteins that interact with dsDNA or dsRNA and distort their structures. The perturbation of the elasticity of NAs arising from these deformations is not properly considered by most theoretical frameworks. In this work, we introduce a novel method to assess the impact of mechanical stress on the elastic response of dsDNA and dsRNA through the analysis of the fluctuations of the double helix. Application of this approach to atomistic simulations reveals qualitative differences in the force dependence of the mechanical properties of dsDNA with respect to those of dsRNA, which we relate to structural features of these molecules by means of physically-sound minimalistic models.