Where does intercalation collide?

In molecular biology, intercalation is the insertion of a flat, aromatic molecule between adjacent base pairs of the DNA double helix, where it stacks like an extra rung and locally unwinds and lengthens the strand. Lerman's 1961 Structural considerations in the interaction of DNA and acridines proposed this slotting-in model for how acridine dyes bind DNA, explaining their mutagenic and, later, chemotherapeutic effects. The referent is a molecule wedged between stacked bases of a nucleic acid, measured by the helix extension and binding it produces, a borrowing of the same insertion idea that chemists apply to layered solids and that calendars apply to time.[1]

Unit

The number of intercalated molecules per base pair and the resulting helix unwinding

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Detected by the lengthening and unwinding of the helix, shifts in viscosity and melting temperature, and spectroscopic binding isotherms

In solid-state chemistry, intercalation is the reversible insertion of guest atoms, ions, or molecules into the vacant sites between the layers of a host crystal (graphite, or a layered transition-metal compound) without destroying the host's framework. Whittingham's 1976 Electrical energy storage and intercalation chemistry showed that lithium ions could be shuttled in and out of a layered sulphide electrode, the principle that underlies the rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The referent is a guest threaded between a host lattice's layers, measured by how much guest the host takes up and the voltage or spacing change it causes, and it is the structural cousin of a dye slid into DNA or a day inserted into a calendar.[2]

Unit

The amount of guest taken up per host formula unit and the change in interlayer spacing

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Followed by the change in interlayer spacing (X-ray diffraction), the uptake capacity, and the electrode potential during insertion and removal