Search results for " dimer"
showing 10 items of 86 documents
Role of RNA Guanine Quadruplexes in Favoring the Dimerization of SARS Unique Domain in Coronaviruses
2020
ABSTRACTCoronaviruses may produce severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). As a matter of fact, a new SARS-type virus, SARS-CoV-2, is responsible of a global pandemic in 2020 with unprecedented sanitary and economic consequences for most countries. In the present contribution we study, by all-atom equilibrium and enhanced sampling molecular dynamics simulations, the interaction between the SARS Unique Domain and RNA guanine quadruplexes, a process involved in eluding the defensive response of the host thus favoring viral infection of human cells. Our results evidence two stable binding modes involving an interaction site spanning either the protein dimer interface or only one monomer. The …
Combined QM/MM investigation on the light-driven electron-induced repair of the (6-4) thymine dimer catalyzed by DNA photolyase.
2013
The (6-4) photolyases are blue-light-activated enzymes that selectively bind to DNA and initiate splitting of mutagenic thymine (6-4) thymine photoproducts (T(6-4)T-PP) via photoinduced electron transfer from flavin adenine dinucleotide anion (FADH(-)) to the lesion triggering repair. In the present work, the repair mechanism after the initial electron transfer and the effect of the protein/DNA environment are investigated theoretically by means of hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) simulations using X-ray structure of the enzyme-DNA complex. By comparison of three previously proposed repair mechanisms, we found that the lowest activation free energy is required for the …
Photoinduced Formation Mechanism of the Thymine−Thymine (6−4) Adduct
2013
The photoinduced mechanism leading to the formation of the thymine-thymine (6-4) photolesion has been studied by using the CASPT2//CASSCF approach over a dinucleotide model in vacuo. Following light absorption, localization of the excitation on a single thymine leads to fast singlet-triplet crossing that populates the triplet (3)(nπ*) state of thymine. This state, displaying an elongated C(4)═O bond, triggers (6-4) dimer formation by reaction with the C(5)═C(6) double bond of the adjacent thymine, followed by a second intersystem crossing, which acts as a gate between the excited state of the reactant and the ground state of the photoproduct. The requirement of localized excitation on just …
Transmembrane helix–helix interactions are modulated by the sequence context and by lipid bilayer properties
2012
Abstract Folding of polytopic transmembrane proteins involves interactions of individual transmembrane helices, and multiple TM helix–helix interactions need to be controlled and aligned to result in the final TM protein structure. While defined interaction motifs, such as the GxxxG motif, might be critically involved in transmembrane helix–helix interactions, the sequence context as well as lipid bilayer properties significantly modulate the strength of a sequence specific transmembrane helix–helix interaction. Structures of 11 transmembrane helix dimers have been described today, and the influence of the sequence context as well as of the detergent and lipid environment on a sequence spec…
Experimental and Theoretical Study on the Cycloreversion of a Nucleobase-Derived Azetidine by Photoinduced Electron Transfer.
2018
[EN] Azetidines are interesting compounds in medicine and chemistry as bioactive scaffolds and synthetic intermediates. However, photochemical processes involved in the generation and fate of azetidine-derived radical ions have scarcely been reported. In this context, the photoreduction of this four-membered heterocycle might be relevant in connection with the DNA (6-4) photoproduct obtained from photolyase. Herein, a stable azabipyrimidinic azetidine (AZT(m)), obtained from cycloaddition between thymine and 6-azauracil units, is considered to be an interesting model of the proposed azetidine-like intermediate. Hence, its photoreduction and photo-oxidation are thoroughly investigated throug…
Mechanisms of DNA damage by photoexcited 9-methyl-β-carbolines
2013
It has been well documented that β-carboline alkaloids, particularly the 9-methyl derivatives, are efficient photosensitizers. However, structure–activity relationships are missing and the photochemical mechanisms involved in the DNA photodamage still remain unknown. In the present work, we examined the capability of three 9-methyl-β-carbolines (9-methyl-norharmane, 9-methyl-harmane and 9-methylharmine) to induce DNA damage upon UVA excitation at physiological pH. The type and extent of the damage was analyzed together with the photophysical and binding properties of the β-carboline derivatives investigated. The results indicate that even at neutral pH most of the DNA damage is generated fr…
Theoretical insight into the intrinsic ultrafast formation of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in UV-irradiated DNA: thymine versus cytosine.
2008
The higher formation yields measured in the ultrafast photoinduced formation of cyclobutane thymine dimers (T T) with respect to those of cytosine (C C) are explained, on the basis of ab initio CASPT2 results, by the existence in thymine of more reactive orientations and a less efficient photoreversibility, whereas in cytosine the funnel toward the photolesion becomes competitive with that mediating the internal conversion of the excited-cytosine monomer.
Photoinduced DNA Lesions in Dormant Bacteria: The Peculiar Route Leading to Spore Photoproducts Characterized by Multiscale Molecular Dynamics
2020
International audience; Some bacterial species enter a dormant state in the form of spores to resist to unfavorable external conditions. Spores are resistant to a wide series of stress agents, including UV radiation, and can last for tens to hundreds of years. Due to the suspension of biological functions, such as DNA repair, they accumulate DNA damage upon exposure to UV radiation. Differently from active organisms, the most common DNA photoproducts in spores are not cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers, but rather the so‐called spore photoproducts. This noncanonical photochemistry results from the dry state of DNA and its binding to small, acid‐soluble proteins that drastically modify the struct…
Quantification of PCR products by phosphate measurement
2008
Various techniques for quantification of PCR are available. Most frequently, the densitometric intensities of ethidium bromide-stained PCR products separated in gels are compared after normalizing to the levels of housekeeping gene products such as beta-actin. More precise, but extremely time consuming, is the technique of competitive PCR. Newer methods, such as tracking amplification in real-time, have high start-up and maintenance costs (e.g., TaqMan, Applied Biosystems; LightCycler, Roche; I-Cycler, Bio-Rad). Here, I describe an alternative, simple technique to quantify PCR products by determining the entire phosphate released during PCR. The method can be performed using common laborato…
Coherent Spin Dependent Landau-Zener Tunneling in Mixed Valence Dimers
2011
In this contribution we introduce the concept of single molecule ferroelectric based on the vibronic pseudo Jahn-Teller model of mixed valence dimeric clusters belonging to the Robin and Day class II compounds. We elucidate the main factors controlling the nonadiabatic Landau-Zener tunneling between the low lying vibronic levels induced by a pulse of the electric field. The transition probabilities are shown to be dependent on the both time of the pulse and the total spin of the cluster. A possibility to control the spin-dependent Landau-Zener tunneling by applying a static magnetic field is discussed.