cgNA+web : A Visual Interface to the cgNA+ Sequence-dependent Statistical Mechanics Model of Double-stranded Nucleic Acids

J Mol Biol. 2023 Jul 15;435(14):167978. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2023.167978. Epub 2023 Jan 25.

Abstract

The sequence-dependent statistical mechanics of double-stranded nucleic acid, or dsNA, is believed to be essential in its biological functions. In turn, the equilibrium statistical mechanics behaviour of dsNA depends strongly both on sequence-dependent perturbations in its ground state shape away from an idealised, uniform, double-helical configuration, and on its fluctuations as governed by its sequence-dependent stiffness. We here describe the cgNA+web browser-based interactive tool for visualising the sequence-dependent ground states of dsNA fragments of arbitrary sequences, as predicted by the underlying cgNA+ coarse-grain model. Parameter sets are provided to model dsDNA, including the possibility of epigenetically modified CpG dinucleotide steps, dsRNA, and DNA:RNA Hybrid double helical fragments. The cgNA+web interface is specifically designed to compare ground state shapes of different sequences of the same dsNA, or analogous sequences of different dsNAs. The cgNA+web server is freely available at cgDNAweb.epfl.ch without any login requirement.

Keywords: Coarse-grain modelling; DNA:RNA Hybrid; dsDNA mechanics; dsRNA; sequence-dependence.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • CpG Islands
  • DNA* / chemistry
  • Epigenesis, Genetic
  • Nucleic Acid Conformation
  • RNA, Double-Stranded* / chemistry

Substances

  • DNA
  • RNA, Double-Stranded