Issue 7, 2011

Influence of nano-viscosity and depletion interactions on cleavage of DNA by enzymes in glycerol and poly(ethylene glycol) solutions: qualitative analysis

Abstract

Biochemical reactions in living systems take place in an environment crowded by various macromolecules and ligands. Therefore experimental data obtained in buffer do not reflect in vivo conditions. We have used glycerol, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) 6000 and PEG 8 M solutions to investigate the influence of the crowded environment on cleavage of plasmid DNA by restriction enzyme HindIII. PEG 6000 solution can effectively slow down the cleavage process. However, neither PEG 8 M solution of the same viscosity as PEG 6000 solution nor glycerol solution of the same concentration as PEG 6000 solution slows the cleavage of DNA appreciably. The viscosity experienced by the biomolecules (here called nano-viscosity) and aggregation induced by the depletion interactions between DNA molecules in polymer solution (PEG 6000) are two factors responsible for slow cleavage of DNA. We have ruled out the change of pH and denaturation of HindIII as possible sources for the effect.

Graphical abstract: Influence of nano-viscosity and depletion interactions on cleavage of DNA by enzymes in glycerol and poly(ethylene glycol) solutions: qualitative analysis

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
31 Aug 2010
Accepted
08 Nov 2010
First published
15 Dec 2010

Soft Matter, 2011,7, 3092-3099

Influence of nano-viscosity and depletion interactions on cleavage of DNA by enzymes in glycerol and poly(ethylene glycol) solutions: qualitative analysis

S. Hou, N. Ziebacz, T. Kalwarczyk, T. S. Kaminski, S. A. Wieczorek and R. Holyst, Soft Matter, 2011, 7, 3092 DOI: 10.1039/C0SM00899K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements