Cisplatin induces loop structures and condensation of single DNA molecules.

Structural properties of single lambda DNA treated with anti-cancer drug cisplatin were studied with magnetic tweezers and AFM. Under the effect of low-concentration cisplatin, the DNA became more flexible, with the persistence length decreased significantly from approximately 52 to 15 nm. At a high drug concentration, a DNA condensation phenomenon was observed.

Impediment of E. coli UvrD by DNA-destabilizing force reveals a strained-inchworm mechanism of DNA unwinding.

Escherichia coli UvrD is a non-ring-shaped model helicase, displaying a 3'-5' polarity in DNA unwinding. Using a transverse magnetic tweezer and DNA hairpins, we measured the unwinding kinetics of UvrD at various DNA-destabilizing forces. The multiform patterns of unwinding bursts and the distributions of the off-times favour the mechanism that UvrD unwinds DNA as a dimer.