ISSN:
0006-3525
Keywords:
DNA crystallography
;
i-motif
;
intercalation
;
crystal lattice and packing
;
nucleic acids
;
intermolecular interactions
;
crystal engineering
;
Chemistry
;
Polymer and Materials Science
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
Notes:
Condensation of single molecules from solution into crystals represents a transition between distinct energetic states. In solution, the atomic interactions within the molecule dominate. In the crystalline state, however, a set of additional interactions are formed between molecules in close contact in the lattice - these are the packing interactions. The crystal structures of d(CCCT), d(TAACCC), d(CCCAAT), and d(AACCCC) have in common a four-stranded intercalated cytosine segment, built by stacked layers of cytosine · cytosine+ (C · C+) base pairs coming from two parallel duplexes that intercalate into each other with opposite polarity. The intercalated cytosine segments in these structures are similar in their geometry, even though the sequences crystallized in different space groups. In the crystals, adenine and thymine residues of the sequences are used to build the three-dimensional crystal lattice by elaborately interacting with symmetry-related molecules. The packing elements observed provide novel insight about the copious ways in which nucleic acid molecules can interact with each other - for example, when folded in more complicated higher order structures, such as mRNA and chromatin. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biopoly 44: 257-267, 1997
Additional Material:
5 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
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