DNase I binds in the minor groove of DNA and is used as an enzymatic tool to investigate the interaction of proteins with DNA. Here we show that the major groove located 5-methyldeoxycytidine can enhance or inhibit the cleavage rates of DNA by DNase I. This effect may be caused in part by changes in DNA structure affecting the accessibility of the minor groove of DNA to DNase I.

A tetracationic supramolecular cylinder, [Fe2L3] (L=C25H20N4), with a triple-helical architecture is just the right size to fit into the major groove of DNA and too big to fit into the minor groove [Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2001, 40, 879-884]. A detailed NMR spectroscopic analysis supported by molecular dynamics calculations shows unambiguously the close fit between the cylinder and a duplex oligo...

Homopyrimidine oligodeoxynucleotides recognize the major groove of the DNA double helix at homopurine.homopyrimidine sequences by forming local triple helices. Phenanthroline was covalently attached to the 5' end of an 11-mer homopyrimidine oligonucleotide of sequence d(TTTCCTCCTCT). Simian virus 40 DNA, which contains a single target site for this oligonucleotide, was used as a substrate for t...

The 86 kDa immediate early-2 protein (IE2, IE86) of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a multifunctional polypeptide that can regulate gene expression both positively and negatively. In particular, it represses its own mRNA synthesis by binding directly to a sequence element, termed cis repression signal (CRS), that is located between the TATA box and the transcriptional start site of the major IE...

Drag reduction of an object is the major concern in many engineering applications. Experimental studies have been carried out on circular cylinder with helical grooves in a subsonic wind tunnel. Different cases of helical grooves with different pitches, helical groove angles and number of starts of helical groove on circular cylinder are tested. Experimental results show the drag coefficient is...

The major covalent adduct formed between a 13C-labelled formaldehyde activated bis-amino mitoxantrone analogue (WEHI-150) and the hexanucleotide d(CG5MeCGCG)2 has been isolated by HPLC chromatography and the structure determined by NMR spectroscopy. The results indicate that WEHI-150 forms one covalent bond through a primary amine to the N-2 of the G2 residue, with the polycyclic ring structure...

The positions of cations in x-ray structures are modulated by sequence, conformation, and ligand interactions. The goal here is to use x-ray diffraction to help resolve structural and thermodynamic roles of specifically localized cations in DNA-anthracycline complexes. We describe a 1.34 A resolution structure of a CGATCG(2)-adriamycin(2) complex obtained from crystals grown in the presence of ...

Nucleic acids and proteins are two of the most important biomolecules in any living organism, with the former carrying genetic information and the latter executing and regulating the life processes. Protein–nucleic acid interactions therefore play a crucial role in central biological processes, ranging from the mechanism of replication, transcription and recombination to enzymatic events utiliz...

RNA–protein interactions are involved in many cellular processes, including information storage and transfer, catalysis and transcriptional activation. Our structural knowledge of these interactions at atomic resolution is based on X-ray crystallographic and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies (for a review see [1]). The crystal structures of a number of RNA–protein complexes have been rep...