The Role of Unconventional Hydrogen Bonds in Determining BII Propensities in B-DNA

An accurate understanding of DNA backbone transitions is likely to be the key for elucidating the puzzle of the intricate sequence-dependent mechanical properties that govern most of the biologically relevant functions of the double helix. One factor believed to be important in indirect recognition...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Balaceanu, Alexandra, Pasi, Marco, Dans, Pablo D., Hospital Gasch, Adam, Lavery, Richard, Orozco López, Modesto
Tipo de documento: artigo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Data de publicação:2016
País:España
Recursos:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositório:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/106380
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/106380
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:ADN
Dinàmica molecular
DNA
Molecular dynamics
Descrição
Resumo:An accurate understanding of DNA backbone transitions is likely to be the key for elucidating the puzzle of the intricate sequence-dependent mechanical properties that govern most of the biologically relevant functions of the double helix. One factor believed to be important in indirect recognition within protein–DNA complexes is the combined effect of two DNA backbone torsions (ε and ζ) which give rise to the well-known BI/BII conformational equilibrium. In this work we explain the sequence-dependent BII propensity observed in RpY steps (R = purine; Y = pyrimidine) at the tetranucleotide level with the help of a previously undetected C–H···O contact between atoms belonging to adjacent bases. Our results are supported by extensive multimicrosecond molecular dynamics simulations from the Ascona B-DNA Consortium, high-level quantum mechanical calculations, and data mining of the experimental structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank.