2jja

Publication Abstract from PubMed

The crystal structure of an 8-mer (S)-GNA duplex is presented. As a tool for phasing, the anomalous diffraction of two copper(II) ions within two artificial metallo-base pairs was employed. The duplex structure confirms a canonical Watson-Crick base pairing scheme of GNA with antiparallel strands. The duplex secondary structure is distinct from canonical A- and B-form nucleic acids and can be described as a right-handed helical ribbon wrapped around the helix axis, resulting in a large hollow core. Most intriguingly, neighboring base pairs slide strongly against each other, resulting in extensive interstrand base-base hydrophobic interactions along with unusual hydrophobic intrastrand interactions of nucleobases with their backbone. These results reveal how a minimal nucleic acid backbone can support highly stable Watson-Crick-like duplex formation.

Duplex structure of a minimal nucleic acid.,Schlegel MK, Essen LO, Meggers E J Am Chem Soc. 2008 Jul 2;130(26):8158-9. Epub 2008 Jun 5. PMID:18529005^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.