Helix-Coil Kinetics of Individual Polyadenylic Acid Molecules in a Protein Channel
Journal Article

Published: Friday, April 16, 2010
Journal: Physical Review Letters, Volume 104, Number 15, Pages 158101

Authors (2 total): J. Lin, A. Meller

Abstract: Helix-coil transition kinetics of polyadenylic acid [poly(A)] inside a small protein channel is investigated for the first time, at the single molecule level. The confinement of a RNA molecule inside the channel slows its kinetics by nearly 3 orders of magnitude as compared to bulk measurements of free poly(A). These findings are related to the interaction energy of the RNA structure with the interior of the pore, explained by a simple two-state model. These results shed light on the way intermolecular interactions alter nucleic acid kinetics.