Abstract
Regular homopurine-homopyrimidine tracts, (dG–dA)n·(dT–dC)n and (dG)R·(dC)n, undergo a superhelix-induced, strongly pH-dependent, structural transition into a novel DNA conformation, the H form1–3. We have suggested that the H form can arise in any homopurine-homopyrimidine mirror repeat (H palindrome)3. We have now tested this prediction using a tailored series of plasmids carrying the inserts AAGGG AG AAXGGGGTATAGGGGYAAG AGGGAA, where X and Y may be either A or G, and subject them to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. In support of our hypothesis, the inserts exhibited facile transitions into the H form for X = Y = G, or X = Y = A, whereas the transition was much more difficult or impossible for the two non-palindromes (X = A, Y = G or X = G, Y = A). We present evidence that the H form is the structural basis for Sl-nuclease hypersensitivity.
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References
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Mirkin, S., Lyamichev, V., Drushlyak, K. et al. DNA H form requires a homopurine–homopyrimidine mirror repeat. Nature 330, 495–497 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/330495a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/330495a0
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