Small-angle scattering as a tool to study the thermal denaturation of DNA
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Date
2014-10-02
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IOP Science
Abstract
DNA thermal denaturation is the breaking of the base pairs, leading to a splitting of the two strands of the double helix. While it is easy to measure the fraction of open base pairs $(f)$ vs. temperature, determining the fraction $(p)$ of fully open molecules is much harder. Previously, the simultaneous recording of f and p could only be achieved for special sequences. We show that small-angle scattering of X-rays or neutrons allows the measurement of p for any sequence. We illustrate the method with a SAXS investigation of two sequences designed to exhibit different melting profiles and compare the SAXS data with nano-calorimetric measurements of the melting curve. © 2014, EPLA.
Description
Keywords
DNA, Temperature range, Molecules, X-ray equipment, Data, Calorimetry
Citation
Wood, K., Knott, R., Tonchev, O., Angelov, D., Theodorakopoulos, N., & Peyrard, M. (2014). Small-angle scattering as a tool to study the thermal denaturation of DNA. Europhysics Letters, 108(1), 18002. doi:10.1209/0295-5075/108/18002