Guanosine Quadruplexes in Solution: A Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering Analysis of Temperature Effects on Self-Assembling of Deoxyguanosine Monophosphate

We investigated quadruplex formation in aqueous solutions of 2′-deoxyriboguanosine 5′-monophosphate, d(pG), which takes place in the absence of the covalent axial backbone. A series of in-solution small angle X-ray scattering experiments on d(pG) have been performed as a function of temperature in the absence of excess salt, at a concentration just above the critical one at which self-assembling occurs. A global fit approach has been used to derive composition and size distribution of the scattering particles as a function of temperature. The obtained results give thermodynamical justification for the observed phase-behavior, indicating that octamer formation is essential for quadruplex elongation. Our investigation shows that d(pG) quadruplexes are very suitable to assess the potential of G-quadruplex formation and to study the self-assembling thermodynamics

MLovsin-Polymers2021-data

Figures published in the manuscript: M. Lovsin et al., Reconfigurable Surface Micropatterns Based on the Magnetic Field-Induced Shape Memory Effect in Magnetoactive Elastomers, Polymers (MDPI), 2021.THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Photoisomerizable Guanosine Derivative as a Probe for DNA Base-Pairing in Langmuir Monolayers

Mixtures of azo-functionalized amphiphilic derivatives of guanosine and of amphiphilic derivatives of other DNA nucleobases were deposited at an air-water interface and repeatedly irradiated with light of 340 and 440 nm wavelengths. The consequent switching between cis and trans configurations of the azobenzene moiety caused changes in the surface pressure of the film, which were analyzed using a model based on the two-dimensional Van der Waals equation of state. For mixed films of guanosine and cytidine derivatives, the analysis revealed a significant modification of the strength of intermolecular interaction caused by the optical irradiation, while no such modifications were identified in mixed films involving other nucleobases. The difference is attributed to light-induced breaking of the hydrogen bonding that is established only between specific nucleobases. The results demonstrate that photosensitive nucleoside derivatives can be used as an efficient probe for base-pairing in Langmuir monolayers

Tunable photonic structures from Liquid Crystal Elastomers

sidechain light-sensitive liquid crystal elastomer (SC-LS-LCEs) by optical holographic lithography methods. The emphasis was on analysis of modifications of the periodicity of the recorded patterns induced by application of an external strain and by temperature modifications. The results show that due to rubber elasticity of the LCE films, relative modifications of the periodicity by 10% can easily be reached. In most cases tuning is reversible and linear with respect to the strain. Temperature induced tuning is most efficient in the region of phase transition from the nematic to the paranematic phase and provides relative periodicity modifications up to 30%

Switching of Electrically Commanded Alignment Layers Probed by Optical Second Harmonic Generation

Optical second harmonic generation (SHG) was used to probe the response of a 200 nm thick electrically commanded alignment layer made of ferroelectric liquid crystal polymer (FLCP) film to an external DC electric field. The results show that for the field magnitudes in the range 0-2 V/ m the field induced reorientation effects represent only a relatively minor structural perturbation of the film. The switching process is monostable and shows characteristics of the "V-shaped" switching. The response time of the SHG signal is relatively longer than what is measured for the bulk FLCP. Several mechanisms are considered as possible reasons for that

Kinetics of Holographic Recording and Spontaneous Erasure Processes in Light-Sensitive Liquid Crystal Elastomers

The optical mechanism for imprinting one-dimensional grating structures into thin films of a light-sensitive monodomain liquid crystal elastomer is investigated by analyzing the time dependence of optical diffraction properties. The recording kinetics shows an irregular oscillatory behavior, which is most expressed at small grating spacings and at temperatures close to the nematic-isotropic phase transition. The oscillations are attributed to the opto-mechanical response of the film, i.e., to contraction of the film during the recording process. At temperatures far below the nematic-isotropic phase transition, the spontaneous erasure kinetics exhibits exponential relaxation with relaxation time following the Arrhenius activation law. However, at temperatures close to the nematic-isotropic phase transition, the erasure process shows an interesting nonmonotonic behavior that we attribute to the non-linear relation between the concentration of the photo-transformed chemical groups and the nematic order parameter