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. 1994 Nov 11;22(22):4653–4659. doi: 10.1093/nar/22.22.4653

Polycytosine regions contained in DNA hairpin loops interact via a four-stranded, parallel structure similar to the i-motif.

J Rohozinski 1, J M Hancock 1, M A Keniry 1
PMCID: PMC308514  PMID: 7984414

Abstract

Thermal denaturation profiles of an oligodeoxynucleotide that forms a hairpin structure with a cytidine-rich loop show an unexpected transition at 60 degrees C at pH 5.0 but not at pH 8.0. Analytical ultracentrifugation shows that this transition reflects dimer formation via the interaction of loops from two molecules to form a novel structure termed the h-dimer. The dependence of this structure on low pH implies the formation of cytosine-protonated cytosine base pairs. NMR spectroscopy, thermal denaturation and ultraviolet absorption spectral analysis suggest a similarity to the i-motif structure recently proposed for the interaction of deoxycytidine oligomers. The use of hairpin loops to form i-motif-like structures may prove useful in searches for cognate proteins and possibly in the production of antibodies.

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Selected References

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