We report here a novel method for predicting melting temperatures of DNA sequences based on a molecular-level hypothesis on the phenomena underlying the thermal denaturation of DNA. The model presented here attempts to quantify the energetic components stabilizing the structure of DNA such as base pairing, stacking, and ionic environment which are partially disrupted during the process of therm...

A mechanism connecting the local untwisting and opening of DNA double helix is proposed. The presented thermodynamical approach is based on two models: the Peyrard-Bishop model that describes the denaturation of DNA due to thermal fluctuations and the model developed by the author describing solitary torsional waves, which propagate along the DNA molecule forced by advancing RNA polymerase. The...

A fragment of the starch-binding domain (SBDF) of Aspergillus niger glucoamylase was prepared using recombinant DNA techniques, and its thermal unfolding was investigated by high-sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Thermal unfolding of SBDF was found to be reversible at pH 7 as expected from a DSC study of the whole enzyme molecule [Tanaka A. et al., J. Biochem., 117, 1024-1028...