Figure 3.

Schematic demonstrating the states used in the theoretical model for the dynamics of dimer-DNA binding. State 1 is a fully bound dimer (dimer is blue, DNA chain is orange, other binders are cyan), which is the initial state of the binders at the onset of an exchange experiment. States 2 and 3 are singly bound dimers with an open and adjacent DNA binding site. In State 4, this adjacent DNA binding site is occupied by a second dimer that has bound from the previously unbound binder population. The dangling side of the binder is therefore not able to rebind and revert to State 1, which is possible in 2 and 3. States 2, 3 and 4 can subsequently unbind their last remaining side to unbind completely from the DNA chain (State 5). Pathways between the States i and j are indicated with appropriate rate constants k_ij.