https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2010-10618-y
Regular Article
Stationary solutions for a modified Peyrard-Bishop DNA model with up to third-neighbor interactions
Department of Mathematics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 61801-2975, Urbana, IL, USA
* e-mail: zrapti@illinois.edu
Received:
8
February
2010
Accepted:
10
May
2010
Published online:
17
June
2010
We investigate a DNA model that takes into account stacking interactions with neighbors up to three bases away. The model is a generalization of the well-known Peyrard-Bishop (PB) model and is motivated by studies that suggest that nearest-neighbor models for base-pair interaction in a DNA chain might not be enough to capture the mechanism and dynamics of DNA base-pair opening. We study stationary solutions of the modified model and investigate their stability. A comparison with the PB model reveals that under a wide range of parameter values the main characteristics of the original model --such as the hyperbolicity of the equilibrium at the origin-- are preserved, but new types of stationary solutions emerge.
© EDP Sciences, SIF, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2010