Nucleic Acids Research, Vol 24, Issue 21 4176-4184, Copyright © 1996 by Oxford University Press
PJ Bates, CA Laughton, TC Jenkins, DC Capaldi, PD Roselt, CB Reese and S Neidle
Triple helices containing C+xGxC triplets are destabilised at physiological
pH due to the requirement for base protonation of 2'- deoxycytidine (dC),
which has a pKa of 4.3. The C nucleoside 2-amino-5-
(2'-deoxy-beta-D-ribofuranosyl)pyridine (beta-AP) is structurally analogous
to dC but is considerably more basic, with a pKa of 5.93. We have
synthesised 5'-psoralen linked oligodeoxyribonucleotides (ODNs) containing
thymidine (dT) and either beta-AP or its alpha-anomer (alpha- AP) and have
assessed their ability to form triplexes with a double- stranded target
derived from standard deoxynucleotides (i.e. beta- anomers). Third strand
ODNs derived from dT and beta-AP were found to have considerably higher
binding affinities for the target than the corresponding ODNs derived from
dT and either dC or 5-methyl-2'- deoxycytidine (5-Me-dC). ODNs containing
dT and alpha-AP also showed enhanced triplex formation with the duplex
target and, in addition are more stable in serum-containing medium than
standard oligopyrimidine- derived ODNs or ODNs derived from dT and beta-AP.
Molecular modelling studies showed that an alpha-anomeric AP nucleotide can
be accommodated within an otherwise beta-anomeric triplex with only minor
perturbation of the triplex structure. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations
on triplexes containing either the alpha- or beta-anomer of (N1-
protonated) AP showed that in both cases the base retained two standard
hydrogen bonds to its associated guanine when the 'A-type' model of the
triplex was used as the start-point for the simulation, but that bifurcated
hydrogen bonds resulted when the alternative 'B-type' triplex model was
used. The lack of a differential stability between alpha-AP- and
beta-AP-containing triplexes at pH >7, predicted from the behaviour of
the B-type models, suggests that the A-type models are more appropriate.
ARTICLES
Efficient triple helix formation by oligodeoxyribonucleotides containing alpha- or beta-2-amino-5-(2-deoxy-D-ribofuranosyl) pyridine residues
The Cancer Research Campaign Biomolecular Structure Unit, The Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, UK.
![]()
CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
D. A. Rusling, V. E. C. Powers, R. T. Ranasinghe, Y. Wang, S. D. Osborne, T. Brown, and K. R. Fox Four base recognition by triplex-forming oligonucleotides at physiological pH Nucleic Acids Res., May 23, 2005; 33(9): 3025 - 3032. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
