2003/08/01 by D. Hennig, E. B. Starikov, J. F. R. Archilla +1
Physics and Astronomy · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #nlin.PS #cond-mat.soft #nlin.AO #q-bio.BM
paper · pdf · doi:10.1023/b:jobp.0000046721.92623.a9
published as Journal of Biological Physics 30 (3): 227-238, 2004 · 11 pages, 5 figures
arxiv created 2003/08/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
We investigate the charge transport in synthetic DNA polymers built up from single types of base pairs. In the context of a polaron-like model, for which an electronic tight-binding system and bond vibrations of the double helix are coupled, we present estimates for the electron-vibration coupling strengths utilizing a quantum-chemical procedure. Subsequent studies concerning the mobility of polaron solutions, representing the state of a localized charge in unison with its associated helix deformation, show that the system for poly(dG)-poly(dC) and poly(dA)-poly(dT) DNA polymers, respectively possess quantitatively distinct transport properties. While the former supports unidirectionally moving electron breathers attributed to highly efficient long-range conductivity the breather mobility in the latter case is comparatively restrained inhibiting charge transport. Our results are in agreement with recent experimental results demonstrating that poly(dG)-poly(dC) DNA molecules acts as a semiconducting nanowire and exhibits better conductance than poly(dA)-poly(dT) ones.