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1.
Soft Matter ; 20(12): 2750-2766, 2024 Mar 20.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38440846

RESUMEN

DNA, which naturally occurs in linear, ring, and supercoiled topologies, frequently undergoes enzyme-driven topological conversion and fragmentation in vivo, enabling it to perform a variety of functions within the cell. In vitro, highly concentrated DNA polymers form entanglements that yield viscoelastic properties dependent on the topologies and lengths of the DNA. Enzyme-driven alterations of DNA size and shape therefore offer a means of designing active materials with programmable viscoelastic properties. Here, we incorporate multi-site restriction endonucleases into dense DNA solutions to linearize and fragment circular DNA molecules. We pair optical tweezers microrheology with differential dynamic microscopy and single-molecule tracking to measure the linear and nonlinear viscoelastic response and transport properties of entangled DNA solutions over a wide range of spatiotemporal scales throughout the course of enzymatic digestion. We show that, at short timescales, relative to the relaxation timescales of the polymers, digestion of these 'topologically-active' fluids initially causes an increase in elasticity and relaxation times followed by a gradual decrease. Conversely, for long timescales, linear viscoelastic moduli exhibit signatures of increasing elasticity. DNA diffusion, likewise, becomes increasingly slowed, in direct opposition to the short-time behavior. We hypothesize that this scale-dependent rheology arises from the population of small DNA fragments, which increases as digestion proceeds, driving self-association of larger fragments via depletion interactions, giving rise to slow relaxation modes of clusters of entangled chains, interspersed among shorter unentangled fragments. While these slow modes likely dominate at long times, they are presumably frozen out in the short-time limit, which instead probes the faster relaxation modes of the unentangled population.


Asunto(s)
ADN Circular , ADN , Elasticidad , Polímeros , Reología
2.
STAR Protoc ; 5(3): 103249, 2024 Aug 08.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-39120975

RESUMEN

Here, we present a protocol for encapsulating DNA molecules under crowded conditions within cell-sized lipid-coated droplets. We describe steps for preparing a lipid-oil mixture and adding an aqueous solution containing DNA, which, when mixed, forms water-in-oil droplets of radii between ∼5 and 100 µm. We then detail procedures for quantifying the dynamics of DNA molecules in these droplets by analyzing fluorescence microscopy time series using differential dynamic microscopy. This protocol can be utilized to investigate DNA transport within a range of biomimetic and crowded environments. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Aporvari et al.1.

3.
J Vis Exp ; (203)2024 Jan 26.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38345245

RESUMEN

Reconstituted cytoskeleton composites have emerged as a valuable model system for studying non-equilibrium soft matter. The faithful capture of the dynamics of these 3D, dense networks calls for optical sectioning, which is often associated with fluorescence confocal microscopes. However, recent developments in light-sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) have established it as a cost-effective and, at times, superior alternative. To make LSFM accessible to cytoskeleton researchers less familiar with optics, we present a step-by-step beginner's guide to building a versatile light-sheet fluorescence microscope from off-the-shelf components. To enable sample mounting with traditional slide samples, this LSFM follows the single-objective light-sheet (SOLS) design, which utilizes a single objective for both the excitation and emission collection. We describe the function of each component of the SOLS in sufficient detail to allow readers to modify the instrumentation and design it to fit their specific needs. Finally, we demonstrate the use of this custom SOLS instrument by visualizing asters in kinesin-driven microtubule networks.


Asunto(s)
Citoesqueleto , Microtúbulos , Microscopía Fluorescente
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