Water film thickness-dependent conformation and diffusion of single-strand DNA on poly(ethylene glycol)-silane surface.

In this paper, we investigate, using molecular dynamics simulations, the conformation and diffusion of longer and shorter single-strand DNA (ssDNA) as a function of water film thickness. While the conformation of the shorter ssDNA is significantly affected and the diffusion is suppressed with reduction in water film thickness, the conformation and diffusion of the longer DNA is not influenced. We explain our observations by considering the competition between stacking interaction of bases and solvation tendency of ssDNA. This paper suggests an approach to control the surface motion of ssDNA in nanoscale water films using film thickness.