Solvent interactions stabilising nucleic acid conformers

Solvent interactions stabilising nucleic acid conformers.

The transition of oligonucleotides from the B to the A conformation has been studied by the use of simple geometric calculations aimed at finding possible hydration sites which could stabilize these conformations. The method involves the classification of equally spaced grid points, surrounding the oligonucleotide, into groups depending on whether a water molecule, so placed, could form single,...

Aqueous solutions of pyrimidine nucleic acid bases . Solute – solvent interactions

The data previously reported on the enthalpy of hydration, partial molar volumes and heat capacities of alkylated pyrimidine nucleic acid bases, e.g. uracil, thymine and cytosine, were correlated with the following structural parameters: molecular volume, volume of solvation shell, accessible molecular surface area and its atomic partition as well as and electrostatic potential charge. The simp...

Metal/Nucleic-Acid Interactions

Protein–nucleic acid interactions

Understanding nucleic acid-ion interactions.

Ions surround nucleic acids in what is referred to as an ion atmosphere. As a result, the folding and dynamics of RNA and DNA and their complexes with proteins and with each other cannot be understood without a reasonably sophisticated appreciation of these ions' electrostatic interactions. However, the underlying behavior of the ion atmosphere follows physical rules that are distinct from the ...