Skip to main content
PMC home page
Nucleic Acids Research logoLink to Nucleic Acids Research
. 1985 Jun 11;13(11):4133–4141. doi: 10.1093/nar/13.11.4133

New DNA polymorphism: evidence for a low salt, left-handed form of poly(dG-m5dC).

B G Feuerstein, L J Marton, M A Keniry, D L Wade, R H Shafer
PMCID: PMC341301  PMID: 4011444

Abstract

Spectroscopic studies on solutions of poly(dG-m5dC) over a wide range of salt concentration are presented. Low salt solutions [( Na+]) less than 2 mM) of poly(dG-m5dC) produce circular dichroism (CD) spectra typical of the left-handed, Z form at high salt [( Na+] = 1.75 M). Solutions of poly(dG-m5dC) at intermediate salt concentrations, e.g., 142 mM, yield CD spectra characteristic of the right-handed, B conformation. 31p NMR spectra of the low salt form of poly(dG-m5dC) reveal two well separated peaks, split by 1.4 ppm, consistent with a dinucleotide repeat. Kinetic studies show that the transition from the low salt form to teh right-handed B form is slow, as expected for a major conformational change. These results suggest that the Z conformation in poly(dG-m5dC) can be stabilized at very low salt as well as at high salt.

Full text

PDF

Selected References

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

  1. Behe M. J., Felsenfeld G., Szu S. C., Charney E. Temperature-dependent conformational transitions in poly(dG-dC) and poly(dG-m5dC). Biopolymers. 1985 Feb;24(2):289–300. doi: 10.1002/bip.360240202. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Behe M., Felsenfeld G. Effects of methylation on a synthetic polynucleotide: the B--Z transition in poly(dG-m5dC).poly(dG-m5dC). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Mar;78(3):1619–1623. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.3.1619. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chen C., Cohen J. S., Behe M. B to Z transition of double-stranded poly[deoxyguanylyl(3'-5')-5-methyldeoxycytidine] in solution by phosphorus-31 and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Biochemistry. 1983 Apr 26;22(9):2136–2142. doi: 10.1021/bi00278a013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chen H. H., Behe M. J., Rau D. C. Critical amount of oligovalent ion binding required for the B-Z transition of poly (dG-m5dC). Nucleic Acids Res. 1984 Mar 12;12(5):2381–2389. doi: 10.1093/nar/12.5.2381. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Drew H., Takano T., Tanaka S., Itakura K., Dickerson R. E. High-salt d(CpGpCpG), a left-handed Z' DNA double helix. Nature. 1980 Aug 7;286(5773):567–573. doi: 10.1038/286567a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Ivanov V. I., Minyat E. E. The transitions between left- and right-handed forms of poly(dG-dC). Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Sep 25;9(18):4783–4798. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.18.4783. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Jovin T. M., McIntosh L. P., Arndt-Jovin D. J., Zarling D. A., Robert-Nicoud M., van de Sande J. H., Jorgenson K. F., Eckstein F. Left-handed DNA: from synthetic polymers to chromosomes. J Biomol Struct Dyn. 1983 Oct;1(1):21–57. doi: 10.1080/07391102.1983.10507425. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Patel D. J., Canuel L. L., Pohl F. M. "Alternating B-DNA" conformation for the oligo(dG-dC) duplex in high-salt solution. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Jun;76(6):2508–2511. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.6.2508. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Patel D. J., Kozlowski S. A., Nordheim A., Rich A. Right-handed and left-handed DNA: studies of B- and Z-DNA by using proton nuclear Overhauser effect and P NMR. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Mar;79(5):1413–1417. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.5.1413. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Pohl F. M., Jovin T. M. Salt-induced co-operative conformational change of a synthetic DNA: equilibrium and kinetic studies with poly (dG-dC). J Mol Biol. 1972 Jun 28;67(3):375–396. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(72)90457-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Razin A., Riggs A. D. DNA methylation and gene function. Science. 1980 Nov 7;210(4470):604–610. doi: 10.1126/science.6254144. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Rich A., Nordheim A., Wang A. H. The chemistry and biology of left-handed Z-DNA. Annu Rev Biochem. 1984;53:791–846. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.53.070184.004043. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Roy K. B., Miles H. T. A thermally driven interconversion of B and Z-dna. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1983 Aug 30;115(1):100–105. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(83)90974-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Soumpasis D. M. Statistical mechanics of the B----Z transition of DNA: contribution of diffuse ionic interactions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Aug;81(16):5116–5120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.16.5116. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Thomas T. J., Bloomfield V. A. Toroidal condensation of Z DNA and identification of an intermediate in the B to Z transition of poly(dG-m5dC) X poly(dG-m5dC). Biochemistry. 1985 Jan 29;24(3):713–719. doi: 10.1021/bi00324a026. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Wang A. H., Quigley G. J., Kolpak F. J., Crawford J. L., van Boom J. H., van der Marel G., Rich A. Molecular structure of a left-handed double helical DNA fragment at atomic resolution. Nature. 1979 Dec 13;282(5740):680–686. doi: 10.1038/282680a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Wing R., Drew H., Takano T., Broka C., Tanaka S., Itakura K., Dickerson R. E. Crystal structure analysis of a complete turn of B-DNA. Nature. 1980 Oct 23;287(5784):755–758. doi: 10.1038/287755a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Wu H. Y., Behe M. J. Salt-induced Z-A-Z transition sequence in the mixed ribo-deoxyribo copolymer poly(rG-dC) X poly(rG-dC). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Dec;81(23):7284–7287. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.23.7284. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES