Faculty Publications

Approaches for Determining DNA Persistence Length Using Atomic Force Microscopy

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Atomic force microscopy, DNA mechanics, Persistence length, Thymidine analogs, Wormlike chain model

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Methods in Molecular Biology

Volume

1837

First Page

211

Last Page

256

Abstract

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is widely used to image and study biological molecules. As an example, we have utilized AFM to investigate how the mechanical properties of DNA polymers depend on electrostatics and the strength of DNA base stacking by studying double-stranded DNA molecules incorporating several different neutral and charged base modifications. Here, we describe ten complementary approaches for determining DNA persistence length by AFM imaging. The combination of different approaches provides increased confidence and statistical reliability over existing methods utilizing only a single approach.

Department

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Original Publication Date

1-1-2018

DOI of published version

10.1007/978-1-4939-8675-0_13

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