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Main Authors: Koon, Wang Sang, Owhadi, Houman, Tao, Molei, Yanao, Tomohiro
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.15354
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author Koon, Wang Sang
Owhadi, Houman
Tao, Molei
Yanao, Tomohiro
author_facet Koon, Wang Sang
Owhadi, Houman
Tao, Molei
Yanao, Tomohiro
contents We study the metastability, internal frequencies, activation mechanism, energy transfer, and the collective base-flipping in a mesoscopic DNA via resonance with specific electric fields. Our new mesoscopic DNA model takes into account not only the issues of helicity and the coupling of an electric field with the base dipole moments, but also includes environmental effects such as fluid viscosity and thermal noise. And all the parameter values are chosen to best represent the typical values for the opening and closing dynamics of a DNA. Our study shows that while the mesocopic DNA is metastable and robust to environmental effects, it is vulnerable to certain frequencies that could be targeted by specific THz fields for triggering its collective base-flipping dynamics and causing large amplitude separation of base pairs. Based on applying Freidlin-Wentzell method of stochastic averaging and the newly developed theory of resonant enhancement to our mesoscopic DNA model, our semi-analytic estimates show that the required fields should be THz fields with frequencies around 0.28 THz and with amplitudes in the order of 450 kV/cm. These estimates compare well with the experimental data of Titova et al., which have demonstrated that they could affect the function of DNA in human skin tissues by THz pulses with frequencies around 0.5 THz and with a peak electric field at 220 kV/cm. Moreover, our estimates also conform to a number of other experimental results which appeared in the last couple years.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_15354
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Can Specific THz Fields Induce Collective Base-Flipping in DNA? A Stochastic Averaging and Resonant Enhancement Investigation Based on a New Mesoscopic Model
Koon, Wang Sang
Owhadi, Houman
Tao, Molei
Yanao, Tomohiro
Biological Physics
We study the metastability, internal frequencies, activation mechanism, energy transfer, and the collective base-flipping in a mesoscopic DNA via resonance with specific electric fields. Our new mesoscopic DNA model takes into account not only the issues of helicity and the coupling of an electric field with the base dipole moments, but also includes environmental effects such as fluid viscosity and thermal noise. And all the parameter values are chosen to best represent the typical values for the opening and closing dynamics of a DNA. Our study shows that while the mesocopic DNA is metastable and robust to environmental effects, it is vulnerable to certain frequencies that could be targeted by specific THz fields for triggering its collective base-flipping dynamics and causing large amplitude separation of base pairs. Based on applying Freidlin-Wentzell method of stochastic averaging and the newly developed theory of resonant enhancement to our mesoscopic DNA model, our semi-analytic estimates show that the required fields should be THz fields with frequencies around 0.28 THz and with amplitudes in the order of 450 kV/cm. These estimates compare well with the experimental data of Titova et al., which have demonstrated that they could affect the function of DNA in human skin tissues by THz pulses with frequencies around 0.5 THz and with a peak electric field at 220 kV/cm. Moreover, our estimates also conform to a number of other experimental results which appeared in the last couple years.
title Can Specific THz Fields Induce Collective Base-Flipping in DNA? A Stochastic Averaging and Resonant Enhancement Investigation Based on a New Mesoscopic Model
topic Biological Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.15354