On the structural organization of macromolecules using chiral sensitive differential scattering of circularly polarized light

Differential scattering of circularly polarized light is demonstrated to characterize the macromolecular structures consisting of hierarchical chirality. We modeled the B-DNA structure composed of a double-helix and a base-pairs helical structure. The angle-resolved scattering of circularly polarized light calculated for the B-DNA shows the additive behavior of the scattering signal contributed by the two individual chirality levels of B-DNA structure, a double-helix and a base-pairs helix. This additive behavior of angle-resolved scattering signal has also been demonstrated for other macromolecular structures comprising different chirality levels; a biological cell is also mimicked as a nucleated sphere, a sphere with a helical nucleus in its core. The individual chiral features of a structure add up to the angle-resolved scattering signal of circularly polarized light produced by the parent structure. The total scattered intensity calculations are also demonstrated. These electromagnetic wave scattering calculations can offer a label-free approach to characterize chiral macromolecular structures at the nanoscale level.