To investigate the effect of surface on the structure and dynamics of single stranded DNA (ssDNA) we performed molecular dynamics simulations of free and surface constrained ssDNA. We found that persistence length and folding pathways of ssDNA are length and sequence dependent.  We observed that surface grafting of ssDNA significantly changes its folding pathway, pi-pi stacking interaction, persistence length, and end to end distance when compared to free ssDNA. Moreover, we found that the number of bases and sequence (poly thymines and poly adenines) play an important role in structure and dynamics of ssDNA constrained on the surface. In the light of our study, the length and sequence dependence of ssDNA as well as the effect of surface immobilization is a key for understanding self-assembly of nucleic acid based materials and designing its applications.

Effect of surface immobilization on structure and dynamics of single stranded DNA

246th National Meeting (2013)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.