DNA Condensing Agent Effects on Viscosity

The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a charged polymer that has a double helix structure composed of two single strands wound around each other that carries the genetic information of living systems.

DNA can undergo a conformational transition to a condensed (collapsed) structure in the presence of condensing agents that leads to structural changes and a reduction in the effective volume of the DNA molecule. Condensing agents can change the rheological properties of DNA and can be used for a variety of applications, including gene therapy, gene regulation and cell division.

In this application note, we show the effect of condensing agents on the viscosity of calf-thymus DNA (CT-DNA) solutions with a temperature sweep experiment using the VROC^® initium one plus automated viscometer. Sigmoidal fits of the relative viscosity vs. temperature were used to obtain the melting temperature at multiple DNA concentrations.

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