Small-angle neutron scattering and molecular dynamics structural study of gelling DNA nanostars
- Author(s)
- J. Fernandez-Castanon, F. Bomboi, L. Rovigatti, M. Zanatta, A. Paciaroni, L. Comez, L. Porcar, C. J. Jafta, G. C. Fadda, T. Bellini, F. Sciortino
- Abstract
DNA oligomers with properly designed sequences self-assemble into well defined constructs. Here, we exploit this methodology to produce bulk quantities of tetravalent DNA nanostars (each one composed of 196 nucleotides) and to explore the structural signatures of their aggregation process. We report small-angle neutron scattering experiments focused on the evaluation of both the form factor and the temperature evolution of the scattered intensity at a nanostar concentration where the system forms a tetravalent equilibrium gel. We also perform molecular dynamics simulations of one isolated tetramer to evaluate the form factor numerically, without resorting to any approximate shape. The numerical form factor is found to be in very good agreement with the experimental one. Simulations predict an essentially temperature-independent form factor, offering the possibility to extract the effective structure factor and its evolution during the equilibrium gelation.
- Organisation(s)
- Computational and Soft Matter Physics
- External organisation(s)
- Sapienza University of Rome, University of Oxford, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Universitá degli Studi di Milano
- Journal
- Journal of Chemical Physics
- Volume
- 145
- No. of pages
- 7
- ISSN
- 0021-9606
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4961398
- Publication date
- 08-2016
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 106006 Biophysics, 103015 Condensed matter
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy(all), Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/smallangle-neutron-scattering-and-molecular-dynamics-structural-study-of-gelling-dna-nanostars(ad34c8eb-1ecf-464c-8eef-3a8d946c04b1).html