FDBNSDNA

Force-Dependent Behaviour of Non-Standard DNA Structures and their Uses in Artificial DNA Machines and in Genetic Regulation

Coordinatore	UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT    more  Organization address address: Heidelberglaan 8 city: UTRECHT postcode: 3584 CS contact info Titolo: Mr. Nome: Pieter Cognome: Thijssen Email: send email Telefono: +31 30 2533065 Fax: +31 30 2531645
Nazionalità Coordinatore	Netherlands [NL]
Totale costo	100˙000 €
EC contributo	100˙000 €
Programma	FP7-PEOPLE Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)
Code Call	FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG
Funding Scheme	MC-CIG
Anno di inizio	2011
Periodo (anno-mese-giorno)	2011-11-01   -   2015-10-31

 Partecipanti

#	participant	country	role	EC contrib. [€]
1	UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT  Organization address address: Heidelberglaan 8 city: UTRECHT postcode: 3584 CS contact info Titolo: Mr. Nome: Pieter Cognome: Thijssen Email: send email Telefono: +31 30 2533065 Fax: +31 30 2531645	NL (UTRECHT)	coordinator	100˙000.00

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Since the physicist Richard Feynman famously remarked that “[t]here is Plenty of Room at the Bottom” half a century ago, rapid advances in science have shown us that these words do not only apply to the realm of physics, but equally well to all other the disciplines that make up the exciting fields of biophysics and life sciences. However, the chemistry, biology, and physics we find at this “bottom”, at the level of individual molecules and molecular aggregates, are succinctly different from what one encounters on the macroscopic scale: thermal motion becomes important, while inertia plays a very minor role; and the statistics of large numbers encountered in the test tube have to be replaced with analysis of discrete interaction between a few partner molecules. From this follows that all structures build from nanometre sized (molecular) units and all their interactions are highly dynamic and susceptible to disturbances by exceedingly small forces in the low pico-newton (10^-12 N) range. The aim of this career integration proposal is to expand my previous work on the effects of small mechanical forces in the interaction of DNA with regulatory proteins, and extend it to establish the dynamic mechanical parameters of novel non-standard, self-assembled DNA structures based on the self-recognition of the DNA base guanine, which show potential as building blocks for future molecular-scaled devices and electronics (“G-wires”). Putative poly-guanine structures have been reported to occur ubiquitously in the human genome, where they make up the highly repetitive ends of chromosomes (telomers) and are found throughout regulatory sequences of the genetic code (“G-quadruplexes”); this makes them potential targets for therapeutic drugs in the fight against cancer. Although the chemical environment needed for assembly has been studied, little to nothing is known about their physical properties, especially on the biologically and technologically relevant single molecule level.'