Grand Canonical Monte Carlo simulations of electrostatic forces in ordered polyelectrolyte systems
Abstract
Poyelectrolytes of biological origin are often found in condensed and highly ordered states. Fibers of parallelly ordered DNA molecules are often used in experimental studies. Even in living cells DNA is organized in highly compact and well ordered form. Rod-like filamentous viruses may also associate in laterally ordered structures. Theoretical description of electrostatic interactions is a key element of our understanding of stability and functioning of such forms. It is generally accepted now that at certain conditions, a net electrostatic attraction may arise between polyions of likewise charge, which is responsible for formation of ordered states. This attraction arises due to correlation effects between small ions in solution. Computer simulations within continuum solvent model are able to compute quantitatively the electrostatic forces between charged polyions depending on ionic composition of the solvent. We review here recent results on grand-canonical Monte Carlo computations of electrostatic forces and condensation onset in parallelly ordered DNA and virus systems, including the case when condensation is caused by the multivalent polyamine ions.
- Publication:
-
APS March Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- March 2004
- Bibcode:
- 2004APS..MAR.D9006L