Han C-N, Chou C.Y., Chiang K.N.
National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, TW
Keywords: atomic force microscope (AFM), bacteriophage, virus
In this research, by using the analytical solution (method 1, method 2) and finite element method that include three approaches were proposed to find the stress in the nanoshell when phi-29 packages the dsDNA. Method 1, is assumed that the capsid is simplified as a hollow sphere loaded by a inner pressure of 6 MPa and its outer pressure is 0 MPa . From analytical solution the stress in the capsid is 47.6 MPa. When it comes to method 2, the capsid is assumed to be a cylindrical vessel with ellipsoidal heads and loaded by an inner pressure, 6MPa; The stress in the capsid calculated from method 2 is 83.4 MPa. To method 3, the analysis software is applied to simulate the true-structure-like phi-29 capsid model. From the simulation result, the stress in the capsid shell is 116.6 MPa. The results of the numerical simulation show the best agreement to the experimental data [3] among these three methods. The method proposed here would be used to study the mechanical behavior in DNA packaging and release from viral capsids in the future.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 1, Technical Proceedings of the 2007 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Trade Show, Volume 1
Published: May 20, 2007
Pages: 497 - 500
Industry sector: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing
Topic: Informatics, Modeling & Simulation
ISBN: 1-4200-6182-8