Advancements in Genetic Engineering
Open Access

Abstract

Stable Stretched Suspended DNA Molecules

Manola Moretti, Tania Limongi, Monica Marini, Francesco Gentile, Andrea Giugni, Bruno Torre, Marco Allione, Luca Tirinato, Gobind Das, Gerardo Perozziello, Patrizio Candeloro and Enzo di Fabrizio

The elastic properties of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) are strictly related to their biological function, especially in the case of DNA. The elastic properties control their bending and twisting by ensuring that long molecules can fit into the nucleus of a cell and that, proteins and drugs, can regulate all the cellular processes by means of effective bindings. Accurate elasticity response measurement of DNA molecules to chemo/ mechanical stress, is usually determined in pulling experiments by investigating secondary structure formation and conformational transitions. Many techniques are available for DNA/RNA manipulation such as optical and magnetic tweezers.