4r45

Publication Abstract from PubMed

Racemates increase the chances of crystallization by allowing molecular contacts to be formed in a greater number of ways. With the advent of protein synthesis, the production of protein racemates and racemic-protein crystallography are now possible. Curiously, racemic DNA crystallography had not been investigated despite the commercial availability of L- and D-deoxyribo-oligonucleotides. Here, we report a study into racemic DNA crystallography showing the strong propensity of racemic DNA mixtures to form racemic crystals. We describe racemic crystal structures of various DNA sequences and folded conformations, including duplexes, quadruplexes, and a four-way junction, showing that the advantages of racemic crystallography should extend to DNA.

Racemic DNA Crystallography.,Mandal PK, Collie GW, Kauffmann B, Huc I Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2014 Oct 30. doi: 10.1002/anie.201409014. PMID:25358289^[1]

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