Nucleic Acids Research, Vol 25, Issue 4 836-842, Copyright © 1997 by Oxford University Press
RJ Cain and GD Glick
The base pair lifetimes and apparent dissociation constants of a 21 base
DNA hairpin and an analog possessing a disulfide cross-link bridging the
3'- and 5'-terminal bases were determined by measuring imino proton
exchange rates as a function of exchange catalyst concentration and
temperature. A comparison of the lifetimes and apparent dissociation
constants for corresponding base pairs of the two hairpins indicates that
the cross-link neither increases the number of base pairs involved in
fraying nor alters the lifetime, dissociation constant, or the opened
structure from which exchange occurs for the base pairs that are not
frayed. The cross-link does, however, stabilize the frayed penultimate base
pair of the stem duplex. Significantly, it appears that the disulfide
cross-link is more effective at preventing fraying of the penultimate base
pair than is the 5 base hairpin loop. Because this disulfide cross-link can
be incorporated site specifically, and does not adversely affect static or
dynamic properties of DNA, it should prove very useful in studies of
nucleic acid structure and function.
ARTICLES
The effect of cross-links on the conformational dynamics of duplex DNA [published erratum appears in Nucleic Acids Res 1997 Apr 15;25(8):164]
University of Michigan, Department of Chemistry, Ann Arbor 48109-1055, USA.
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