Molecular voids formed from effective attraction in submonolayer DNA deposited on Au(111)

Communication: Counter-ion solvation and anomalous low-angle scattering in salt-free polyelectrolyte solutions

We investigate the influence of counter-ion solvation on the homogeneity of salt-free polyelectrolyte solutions based on a coarse-grained model that includes an explicit solvent. We show that the solvation of the counter-ions can cause a transformation between a nearly homogeneous to a non-uniform polymer solution, in which there is both a chain clustering and the formation of large charge-free domains, i.e., "voids." The emergence of these heterogeneous structures induced by counter-ion solvation is accompanied by the localization and formation of counter-ion rich domains that are symptomatic of emergent effective long-range attractive interchain interactions.

Crowding-induced cooperativity in DNA surface hybridization

High density DNA brush is not only used to model cellular crowding, but also has a wide application in DNA-functionalized materials. Experiments have shown complicated cooperative hybridization/melting phenomena in these systems, raising the question that how molecular crowding influences DNA hybridization. In this work, a theoretical modeling including all possible inter and intramolecular interactions, as well as molecular details for different species, is proposed. We find that molecular crowding can lead to two distinct cooperative behaviours: negatively cooperative hybridization marked by a broader transition width, and positively cooperative hybridization with a sharper transition, well reconciling the experimental findings. Moreover, a phase transition as a result of positive cooperativity is also found. Our study provides new insights in crowding and compartmentation in cell, and has the potential value in controlling surface morphologies of DNA functionalized nano-particles.