Elucidating the Role of Topological Constraint on the Structure of Overstretched DNA Using Fluorescence Polarization Microscopy

Multiplateau Force-Extension Curves of Long Double-Stranded DNA Molecules

When highly stretched, double-stranded DNA exhibits a plateau region in its force-extension curve. Using a bead-spring coarse-grained dynamic model based on a nonconvex potential, we predict that a long double-stranded DNA fragment made of several consecutive segments with substantially different plateau force values for each segment will exhibit multiple distinct plateau regions in the force-extension curve under physiologically relevant solvent conditions. For example, a long composite double-stranded (ds) DNA fragment consisting of two equal-length segments characterized by two different plateau force values, such as the poly(dA-dT)-poly(dG-dC) fragment, is predicted to exhibit two distinct plateau regions in its force-extension curve; a long composite dsDNA fragment consisting of three segments having three different plateau force values is predicted to have three distinct plateau regions. The formation of mixed states of slightly and highly stretched DNA, coexisting with macroscopically distinct phases of uniformly stretched DNA is also predicted. When one of the segments overstretches, the extensions of the segments can differ drastically. For example, for the poly(dA-dT)-poly(dG-dC) composite fragment, in the middle of the first plateau, 96.7% of the total extension of the fragment (relative to L x /L 0 ≈ 1.0) comes from the poly(dA-dT) segment, while only 3.3% of it comes from the poly(dG-dC) segment. The order of the segments has little effect on the force-extension curve or the distribution of conformational states. We speculate that the distinct structural states of stretched double-stranded DNA may have functional importance. For example, these states may modulate, in a sequence-dependent manner, the rate of double-stranded DNA processing by key cellular machines.

Multi-plateau force-extension curves of long double-stranded DNA molecules

When highly stretched, double-stranded DNA exhibits a plateau region in its force-extension curve. Using a bead-spring coarse-grained dynamic model based on a non-convex potential, we predict that a long double-stranded DNA fragment made of several consecutive segments with substantially different plateau force values for each segment will exhibit multiple distinct plateau regions in the force-extension curve under physiologically relevant solvent conditions. For example, a long composite double-stranded (ds) DNA fragment consisting of two equal-length segments characterized by two different plateau force values, such as the poly(dA-dT)-poly(dG-dC) fragment, is predicted to exhibit two distinct plateau regions in its force-extension curve; a long composite dsDNA fragment consisting of three segments having three different plateau force values is predicted to have three distinct plateau regions. The formation of mixed states of slightly and highly stretched DNA, co-existing with macroscopically distinct phases of uniformly stretched DNA is also predicted. When one of the segments overstretches, the extensions of the segments can differ drastically. For example, for the poly(dA-dT)-poly(dG-dC) composite fragment, in the middle of the first plateau, 96.7 % of the total extension of the fragment (relative toL x / L 0 ≈ 1.0 ) comes from the poly(dA-dT) segment, while only 3.3 % of it comes from the poly(dG-dC) segment. The order of the segments has little effect on the force-extension curve or the distribution of conformational states. We speculate that the distinct structural states of stretched double-stranded DNA may have functional importance. For example, these states may modulate, in a sequence-dependent manner, the rate of double-stranded DNA processing by key cellular machines.

Correlating fluorescence microscopy, optical and magnetic tweezers to study single chiral biopolymers such as DNA

Biopolymer topology is critical for determining interactions inside cell environments, exemplified by DNA where its response to mechanical perturbation is as important as biochemical properties to its cellular roles. The dynamic structures of chiral biopolymers exhibit complex dependence with extension and torsion, however the physical mechanisms underpinning the emergence of structural motifs upon physiological twisting and stretching are poorly understood due to technological limitations in correlating force, torque and spatial localization information. We present COMBI-Tweez (Combined Optical and Magnetic BIomolecule TWEEZers), a transformative tool that overcomes these challenges by integrating optical trapping, time-resolved electromagnetic tweezers, and fluorescence microscopy, demonstrated on single DNA molecules, that can controllably form and visualise higher order structural motifs including plectonemes. This technology combined with cutting-edge MD simulations provides quantitative insight into complex dynamic structures relevant to DNA cellular processes and can be adapted to study a range of filamentous biopolymers.

The End Restraint Method for Mechanically Perturbing Nucleic Acids In Silico

Far from being a passive information store, the genome is a mechanically dynamic and diverse system in which torsion and tension fluctuate and combine to determine structure and help regulate gene expression. Much of this mechanical perturbation is due to molecular machines such as topoisomerases which must stretch and twist DNA as part of various functions including DNA repair and replication. While the broad-scale mechanical response of nucleic acids to tension and torsion is well characterized, detail at the single base pair level is beyond the limits of even super-resolution imaging. Here, we present a straightforward, flexible, and extensible umbrella-sampling protocol to twist and stretch nucleic acids in silico using the popular biomolecular simulation package Amber-though the principles we describe are applicable also to other packages such as GROMACS. We discuss how to set up the simulation system, decide force fields and solvation models, and equilibrate. We then introduce the torsionally constrained stretching protocol, and finally we present some analysis techniques we have used to characterize structural motif formation. Rather than defining forces or fictional pseudoatoms, we instead define a fixed translation of specified atoms between each umbrella-sampling step, which allows comparison with experiment without needing to estimate applied forces by simply using the fractional end-to-end displacement as a comparison metric. We hope that this easy-to-implement solution will be valuable for interrogating optical and magnetic tweezers data on nucleic acids at base pair resolution.