DNA hybridization is a fundamental molecular reaction in biotechnology. To understand how this helix forms and stays stable, it’s important to know how temperature affects the process. Until now, it was often assumed that certain thermodynamic parameters, such as heat capacity, didn’t change with temperature, but this isn’t entirely accurate.
In this study, a UB team, led by Prof. Fèlix Ritort, The Small Biosystems Lab, in collaboration with Sapienza University of Rome and the expert Steven B. Smith Engineering, Los Lunas, NM, USA, have used a highly precise technique that «unzips» individual DNA molecules while rapidly changing the temperature. This allowed them to more accurately measure how the DNA’s heat capacity (a key parameter) changes depending on its sequence.
This new approach, called calorimetric force spectroscopy, opens the door to more detailed studies not only of DNA, but also of modified molecules and other nucleic acids like RNA or or DNA/RNA hybrids.
DNA calorimetric force spectroscopy at single base pair resolution. Rissone P.; Rico-Pasto M.; Smith S.B.; Ritort F. Nature Communications. Volume 16, Article number: 2688 (2025).
Fig. | Single-molecule calorimetric force-spectroscopy