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. 1990 Oct 25;18(20):6119–6126. doi: 10.1093/nar/18.20.6119

Evidence for a new Z-type left-handed DNA helix: properties of Z(WC)-DNA.

A T Ansevin 1, A H Wang 1
PMCID: PMC332415  PMID: 2235494

Abstract

The structure of Z-DNA, currently accepted as a model for all left-handed DNAs, fails to provide convincing explanations for at least four well established properties of left-handed DNA polymers in solution. However, the major discrepancies between theory and experiment are resolved by the structure presently proposed for Z[WC]-DNA, a new left-handed, zig-zag double helix with Watson-Crick-type backbone directions. Structural features of Z[WC]-DNA include the presence of an additional H-bond between each guanine N2-amino group and an adjacent phosphate oxygen, the capacity to form four-stranded, base-matched complexes that should readily precipitate from solution, and backbone progressions that are the same as B-DNA (opposite to Z-DNA). However, since Z[WC]-DNA and Z-DNA have many parameters in common, they could be difficult to distinguish in a majority of existing experiments. In view of the close relationship of the new helix to B-DNA, which allows a relatively unhindered right-to-left transition in handedness, Z[WC]-DNA is theorized to be the left-handed structure preferentially generated in vivo by the torque available in naturally occurring DNA supercoils.

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Selected References

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

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