title: Conformational influence of the ribose 2'-hydroxyl group: crystal structures of DNA-RNA chimeric duplexes.
abstract: We have crystallized three double-helical DNA-RNA chimeric duplexes and determined their structures by X-ray crystallography at resolutions between 2 and 2.25 A. The two self-complementary duplexes [r(G)d(CGTATACGC)]2 and [d(GCGT)r(A)d(TACGC)]2, as well as the Okazaki fragment d(GGGTATACGC).r(GCG)d(TATACCC), were found to adopt A-type conformations. The crystal structures are non-isomorphous, and the crystallographic environments for the three chimeras are different. A number of intramolecular interactions of the ribose 2'-hydroxyl groups contribute to the stabilization of the A-conformation. Hydrogen bonds between 2'-hydroxyls and 5'-oxygens or phosphate oxygens, in addition to the previously observed hydrogen bonds to 1'-oxygens of adjacent riboses and deoxyriboses, are observed in the DNA-RNA chimeric duplexes. The crystalline chimeric duplexes do not show a transition between the DNA A- and B-conformations. CD spectra suggest that the Okazaki fragment assumes an A-conformation in solution as well. In this molecule the three RNA residues may therefore lock the complete decamer in the A-conformation. Crystals of an all-DNA strand with the same sequence as the self-complementary chimeras show a morphology which is different from those of the chimera crystals. Moreover, the oligonucleotide does not match any of the sequence characteristics of DNAs usually adopting the A-conformation in the crystalline state (e.g., octamers with short alternating stretches of purines and pyrimidines). In DNA-RNA chimeric duplexes, it is therefore possible that a single RNA residue can drive the conformational equilibrium toward the A-conformation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Egli
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Usman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rich
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D003461:Crystallography; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D003855:Deoxyribose / Q000737:chemistry; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D012266:Ribose / Q000737:chemistry*; D014965:X-Rays
chemical_list: D003855:Deoxyribose; D012313:RNA; D012266:Ribose; D004247:DNA