A twist-grain boundary (TGB) phase in aqueous solutions of the DNA tetramer GTAC

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Smith, Gregory P., Zhu, Chenhui, Zernenkov, Mikhail, Freychet, Guillaume, Clark, Noel A.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Smith, Gregory P.
Zhu, Chenhui
Zernenkov, Mikhail
Freychet, Guillaume
Clark, Noel A.
author_facet Smith, Gregory P.
Zhu, Chenhui
Zernenkov, Mikhail
Freychet, Guillaume
Clark, Noel A.
contents We report the observation of a Twist Grain Boundary (TGB) phase of DNA, a striking motif of three dimensional (3D) equilibrium self-assembly of the DNA tetramer 5'-GTAC-3', a base sequence that is self-complimentary, pairing to form 4-base long, blunt-end Watson/Crick (WC) duplexes. Hydrophobic blunt ends and liquid crystal ordering enable these short duplexes to aggregate into long-DNA-like columns, even though the double helix has a break every 4 bases. A further step assembles these columns into monolayer sheets in which the columns are mutually parallel, and, finally, these sheets stack into lamellar arrays in which the column axis of each layer rotates in helical fashion, through a 60 degree angle with each passage to the next layer. This reorientation in a left-handed TGB helix enables each 2nm diameter WC column to be parallel to, and to partially enter, the major grooves of its neighbors.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_07844
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A twist-grain boundary (TGB) phase in aqueous solutions of the DNA tetramer GTAC
Smith, Gregory P.
Zhu, Chenhui
Zernenkov, Mikhail
Freychet, Guillaume
Clark, Noel A.
Soft Condensed Matter
We report the observation of a Twist Grain Boundary (TGB) phase of DNA, a striking motif of three dimensional (3D) equilibrium self-assembly of the DNA tetramer 5'-GTAC-3', a base sequence that is self-complimentary, pairing to form 4-base long, blunt-end Watson/Crick (WC) duplexes. Hydrophobic blunt ends and liquid crystal ordering enable these short duplexes to aggregate into long-DNA-like columns, even though the double helix has a break every 4 bases. A further step assembles these columns into monolayer sheets in which the columns are mutually parallel, and, finally, these sheets stack into lamellar arrays in which the column axis of each layer rotates in helical fashion, through a 60 degree angle with each passage to the next layer. This reorientation in a left-handed TGB helix enables each 2nm diameter WC column to be parallel to, and to partially enter, the major grooves of its neighbors.
title A twist-grain boundary (TGB) phase in aqueous solutions of the DNA tetramer GTAC
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.07844