2003/12/08 by Igor M. Kulic, I. M Kulić, Denis Andrienko +3 · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #DNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry #Nanopore and Nanochannel Transport Studies #RNA Interference and Gene Delivery #cond-mat.soft #q-bio.BM
paper · pdf · doi:10.1209/epl/i2004-10076-x
4 pages, 3 figures, RevTeX4 style
arxiv created 2003/12/08 · openalex publication_date 2004/08/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
We propose that semiflexible polymers in poor solvent collapse in two stages. The first stage is the well-known formation of a dense toroidal aggregate. However, if the solvent is sufficiently poor, the condensate will undergo a second structural transition to a twisted entangled state, in which individual filaments lower their bending energy by additionally orbiting around the mean path along which they wind. This "topological ripening" is consistent with known simulations and experimental results. It connects and rationalizes various experimental observations ranging from strong DNA entanglement in viral capsids to the unusually short pitch of the cholesteric phase of DNA in sperm heads. We propose that topological ripening of DNA toroids could improve the efficiency and stability of gene delivery.