Search results for "Base pair"
showing 10 items of 81 documents
Application of FTIR Spectroscopy to Analyze RNA Structure
2020
Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has been widely used for the analysis of both protein and nucleic acid secondary structure. This is one of the vibration spectroscopy methods that are extremely sensitive to any change in molecular structure. While numerous reports describe how to proceed to analyze protein and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) structures using FTIR, reports related to the analyses of ribonucleic acids (RNAs) are few. Nevertheless, RNAs are versatile molecules involved in a multitude of roles in the cell. In this chapter, we present applications of FTIR for the structural analysis of RNA, including the analysis of helical parameters and noncanonical base pairing, oft…
Probing the Conformational States of a pH-Sensitive DNA Origami Zipper via Label-Free Electrochemical Methods
2021
Funding Information: Financial support from EPSRC DTP (grant EP/R513349/1), the Emil Aaltonen Foundation, the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation, the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, and the Vilho, Yrjö and Kalle Väisälä Foundation of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters is gratefully acknowledged. This work was carried out under the Academy of Finland Centers of Excellence Programme (2014–2019). We acknowledge the provision of facilities and technical support by Aalto University Bioeconomy Facilities and OtaNano—Nanomicroscopy Center (Aalto-NMC) and Micronova Nanofabrication Center. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society DNA origami structures represe…
Sequence-specific and DNA structure-dependent interactions of Escherichia coli MutS and human p53 with DNA
2013
Many proteins involved in DNA repair systems interact with DNA that has structure altered from the typical B-form helix. Using magnetic beads to immobilize DNAs containing various types of structures, we evaluated the in vitro binding activities of two well-characterized DNA repair proteins, Escherichia coli MutS and human p53. E. coli MutS bound to double-stranded DNAs, with higher affinity for a G/T mismatch compared to a G/A mismatch and highest affinity for larger non-B-DNA structures. E. coli MutS bound best to DNA between pH 6 and 9. Experiments discriminated between modes of p53-DNA binding, and increasing ionic strength reduced p53 binding to nonspecific double-stranded DNA, but had…
Determination of steady-state levels of oxidative DNA base modifications in mammalian cells by means of repair endonucleases
1997
The alkaline elution technique in combination with various repair endonucleases (Fpg protein, endonuclease III, exonuclease III, T4 endonuclease V) was used to quantify steady-state (background) levels of oxidative base modifications in various types of mammalian cells. In human lymphocytes the number of base modifications sensitive to Fpg protein, which include 8-hydroxyguanine, was 0.25 +/- 0.05 per 10(6) base pairs. Even lower levels (0.07 +/- 0.02 per 10(6) bp) were observed in HeLa cells. The numbers of sites sensitive to the other repair endonucleases were below the detection limit (0.05 per 10(6) bp). In a direct comparison, the background level of Fpg-sensitive modifications determi…
Dielectrophoresis as a tool for nanoscale DNA manipulation
2005
The use of the dielectrophoresis as a tool for DNA manipulation is demonstrated experimentally, using both unmodified 48,500 base pairs long bacteriophage lambda dsDNA (λ-DNA), ∼16 μm in length and 414 base pairs long thiol modified natural dsDNA (avDNA), ∼140 nm in length. We show that both the dsDNA types used, are effectively directed between the planar gold electrodes by the positive dielectrophoresis while applying an AC voltage at frequencies between 500 kHz and 1 MHz. With high concentrations of dsDNA in buffer the attached dsDNA molecules are shown to form bundles or clumps (both λ-DNA and avDNA). Furthermore, we demonstrate the attaching of a single avDNA molecule to an electrode v…
B-DNA Structure and Stability as Function of Nucleic Acid Composition. Dispersion-Corrected DFT Study of Dinucleoside-Monophosphate Single and Double…
2013
actions of the sugar-phosphate skeleton with water; (6) hydrophobic interactions of the DNA cylindrical core, made up by the hydrogen-bonded and stacked nitrogen bases, with the water solvent. Recently, there has been increasing effort in developing and applying quantum chemical methods able to reproduce the structure of native B-DNA and to correctly describe the energy involved in the intrastrand and interstrand noncovalent interactions between the nucleotide monomers. This topic has been approached by both wave function methods and density functional theory. [2] Water solvent and sodium counterions also play an important role in the formation and relative stabilization of the double-helic…
Molecular modeling of intercalation complexes of antitumor active 9-aminoacridine and a [d, e]-anellated isoquinoline derivative with base paired deo…
1996
Intercalators are molecules capable of sliding between DNA base pairs without breaking up the hydrogen bonds between the DNA bases. On the basis of molecular mechanics calculations structural, models of B-DNA tetranucleotide intercalation complexes of some cytostatic active 9-aminoacridines and of a [d, e]-anellated isoquinoline derivative are presented. The drug complexes are stabilized by energetically favouredvan der Waals interactions and by selective hydrogen bonds between the side chains of the drugs and the DNA bases. Semiempirical quantum chemistry calculations revealed that the chromophoric system of the intercalators is able to form π,π-charge-transfer interactions with the purine…
Spectroscopic study of polynucleotides in cationic W/O microemulsions
2007
Water has an active and key role in determining the structure of DNA. Entrapment of DNA and of synthetic model polynucleotides in reverse micelles, where the water activity can easily be modulated, may be a useful way of assessing the influence of water on DNA characteristics; it may also offer useful ideas on the problem of how the giant DNA molecule can be confined in the limited space of cell nuclei. The quaternary microemulsion CTAB n-hexane|n-pentanol| water was used to entrap calf thymus DNA, and the model polynucleotides single-strand polyA, single-strand polyT and duplex polyAT. Ultraviolet spectros-copy, specifically the band at 260 nm, was used to compare the pairing of complement…
Phosphorylation of mismatch repair proteins MSH2 and MSH6 affecting MutSα mismatch-binding activity
2002
Mismatch repair (MMR) is involved in the removal of mispaired bases from DNA and thus plays an important role in the maintenance of genomic stability and the prevention of mutations and cancer. Moreover, MMR triggers genotoxicity and apoptosis upon processing of DNA lesions such as O6-methylguanine. Whereas the enzymology of MMR has been elucidated in great detail, only limited data are available concerning its regulation. Here we show that the major mismatch-binding proteins MSH2 and MSH6, forming the MutSalpha complex, are phosphorylated in vitro by protein kinase C and casein kinase II, but not by protein kinase A. Phosphorylation of MSH2 and MSH6 was also found within the cell, with MSH…
Direct observation of a borane–silane complex involved in frustrated Lewis-pair-mediated hydrosilylations
2014
Perfluorarylborane Lewis acids catalyse the addition of silicon–hydrogen bonds across C=C, C=N and C=O double bonds. This ‘metal-free’ hydrosilylation has been proposed to occur via borane activation of the silane Si–H bond, rather than through classical Lewis acid/base adducts with the substrate. However, the key borane/silane adduct had not been observed experimentally. Here it is shown that the strongly Lewis acidic, antiaromatic 1,2,3-tris(pentafluorophenyl)-4,5,6,7-tetrafluoro-1-boraindene forms an observable, isolable adduct with triethylsilane. The equilibrium for adduct formation was studied quantitatively through variable-temperature NMR spectroscopic investigations. The interacti…