Sensitivity analysis for the mechanical properties of DNA bundles

Abstract

In structural DNA nanotechnology, programming a three-dimensional shape into DNA bundles has been a primary design objective. However, the mechanical properties of these DNA bundle structures are another important factor to be considered in the design process. While the mechanics of the individual DNA double helix has been explored extensively and hence its properties are well known, the mechanical properties of structural motifs such as DNA junctions and strand breaks important to bundle mechanics have not been well characterized due to experimental limitations, rendering it difficult to predict the mechanical properties of DNA bundles. Here, we investigate the effect of these structural motifs on the global bundle rigidities by performing sensitivity analysis on a six-helix DNA bundle structure using the finite element modeling approach. Results reveal the primary structural features and their parametric values required to reproduce the experimental bundle rigidities.