Terahertz Wave Accelerates DNA Unwinding: A Molecular
Dynamics Simulation Study
Posted on 2020-08-13 - 12:06
Unwinding the double
helix of the DNA molecule is the basis of
gene duplication and gene editing, and the acceleration of this unwinding
process is crucial to the rapid detection of genetic information.
Based on the unwinding of six-base-pair DNA duplexes, we demonstrate
that a terahertz stimulus at a characteristic frequency (44.0 THz)
can serve as an efficient, nonthermal, and long-range method to accelerate
the unwinding process of DNA duplexes. The average speed of the unwinding
process increased by 20 times at least, and its temperature was significantly
reduced. The mechanism was revealed to be the resonance between the
terahertz stimulus and the vibration of purine connected by the weak
hydrogen bond and the consequent break in hydrogen bond connections
between these base pairs. Our findings potentially provide a promising
application of terahertz technology for the rapid detection of nucleic
acids, biomedicine, and therapy.