Modeling the Forced Extension of Nicked DNA

The design and study of DNA-based nanodevices has been a topic of considerable interest in the last decade. While the applications of classical continuous DNA structures have been thoroughly studied, nicked DNA structures, i.e., ones that contains breaks (``nicks'') in one or both DNA backbone chains, have received much less attention. Recently, Kersey et al. (JACS, 2004) reported the force spectroscopy of long DNA chains with periodic nicks, self-assembled from short DNA oligomers. We attempt to model the experimental force-extension profiles in a series of steered molecular dynamics simulations. The simulated all-atom model of a basic unit of the long self-assembled chain, a 16bp-long DNA segment with a nick in the middle of one strand, is extended by applying either a constant force or a moving harmonic potential to the DNA ends. The computed force-extension profiles are compared to those for a non-nicked DNA; the dynamics of structural changes in the nicked DNA during the forced extension is discussed. A theoretical framework is established to link the extension and rupture in the simulated basic unit to the corresponding events in the long self-assembled chain.