Skip to main content
Nucleic Acids Research logoLink to Nucleic Acids Research
. 1996 Jun 1;24(11):1987–1991. doi: 10.1093/nar/24.11.1987

Sequence composition effects on the stabilities of triple helix formation by oligonucleotides containing N7-deoxyguanosine.

H Brunar 1, P B Dervan 1
PMCID: PMC145894  PMID: 8668526

Abstract

A nonnatural nucleoside, 7-(2-deoxy-beta-D-erythro-pento-furanosyl)-guanine (d7G), mimics protonated cytosine and specifically binds GC base pairs within a pyrimidine - purine - pyrimidine triple helix. The differences in association constants (KT) determined by quantitative footprint titration experiments at neutral pH reveal dramatic sequence composition effects on the energetics of triple helix formation by oligonucleotides containing d7G. Purine tracts of sequence composition 5'-d(AAAAAGAGAGAGAGA)-3' are bound by oligonucleotide 5'-d(TTTTT7GT7GT7GT7GT7GT)-3' three orders of magnitude less strongly than by 5'-d(TTTTTmCTmCTmCTmCTmCT)-3' (KT = 1.5 x 10(6) M(-1) and KT > or = 3 x 10(9) M(-1) respectively). Conversely, purine tracts of sequence composition 5'-d(AAAAGAAAAGGGGGGA)-3' are bound by oligonucleotide 5'-d(TTTTmCTTTT7G7G7G7G7G7GT)-3' five orders of magnitude more strongly than by 5'-d(TTTTmCTTTTmCmCmCmCmCT)-3' (KT > or = 3 x 10(9) M(-1) and KT < 5 x 10(4) M(-1) respectively). The complementary nature of d7G and mC expands the repertoire of G-rich sequences which may be targeted by triple helix formation.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (127.6 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Brenowitz M., Senear D. F., Shea M. A., Ackers G. K. Quantitative DNase footprint titration: a method for studying protein-DNA interactions. Methods Enzymol. 1986;130:132–181. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(86)30011-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Jetter M. C., Hobbs F. W. 7,8-Dihydro-8-oxoadenine as a replacement for cytosine in the third strand of triple helices. Triplex formation without hypochromicity. Biochemistry. 1993 Apr 6;32(13):3249–3254. doi: 10.1021/bi00064a006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Krawczyk S. H., Milligan J. F., Wadwani S., Moulds C., Froehler B. C., Matteucci M. D. Oligonucleotide-mediated triple helix formation using an N3-protonated deoxycytidine analog exhibiting pH-independent binding within the physiological range. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 May 1;89(9):3761–3764. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.9.3761. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Miller P. S., Bhan P., Cushman C. D., Trapane T. L. Recognition of a guanine-cytosine base pair by 8-oxoadenine. Biochemistry. 1992 Jul 28;31(29):6788–6793. doi: 10.1021/bi00144a020. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Moser H. E., Dervan P. B. Sequence-specific cleavage of double helical DNA by triple helix formation. Science. 1987 Oct 30;238(4827):645–650. doi: 10.1126/science.3118463. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Plum G. E., Park Y. W., Singleton S. F., Dervan P. B., Breslauer K. J. Thermodynamic characterization of the stability and the melting behavior of a DNA triplex: a spectroscopic and calorimetric study. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Dec;87(23):9436–9440. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.23.9436. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Singleton S. F., Dervan P. B. Influence of pH on the equilibrium association constants for oligodeoxyribonucleotide-directed triple helix formation at single DNA sites. Biochemistry. 1992 Nov 17;31(45):10995–11003. doi: 10.1021/bi00160a008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Xodo L. E., Manzini G., Quadrifoglio F., van der Marel G. A., van Boom J. H. Effect of 5-methylcytosine on the stability of triple-stranded DNA--a thermodynamic study. Nucleic Acids Res. 1991 Oct 25;19(20):5625–5631. doi: 10.1093/nar/19.20.5625. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Young S. L., Krawczyk S. H., Matteucci M. D., Toole J. J. Triple helix formation inhibits transcription elongation in vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Nov 15;88(22):10023–10026. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.22.10023. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Nucleic Acids Research are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES