DNA's Liaison with RNA Polymerase – Physical Consequences of a Twisted Relationship

RNA polymerase is the molecular motor that performs the fundamental process of transcription. Besides being the key- protagonist of gene regulation it is one of the most powerful nano-mechanical force generators known inside the cell. The fact that polymerase strictly tracks only one of DNA's strands together with DNA's helical geometry induces a force-to-torque transmission, with several important biological consequences like the ``twin supercoil domain'' effect and remote torsional interaction of genes. In the first part of the talk we theoretically explore the mechanisms of non-equilibrium transport of twist generated by a moving polymerase. We show that these equations are intrinsically non-linear in the crowded cellular environment and lead to peculiar effects like self-confinement of torsional strain by generation of alternative DNA structures like cruciforms. We demonstrate how the asymmetric conformational properties of DNA lead to a ``torsional diode'' effect, i.e. a rectification of polymerase-generated twist currents of different signs. In the second part we explore the possibility of exploiting the polymerase as a powerful workhorse for nanomechanical devices. We propose simple and easy to assemble arrangements of DNA templates interconnected by strand-hybridization that when transcribed by the polymerase linearly contract by tenfold. We show that the typical forces generated by such ``DNA stress fibers'' are in the piconewton range. We discuss their kinetics of contraction and relaxation and draw parallels to natural muscle fiber design.