title: A knowledge-based model of DNA hydration.
abstract: The aqueous hydration of DNA is an important aspect of its structure, which is of direct relevance to mechanisms of radiation damage. We have made a quantitative analysis of solvent interactions within hydrogen bonding distance of polar atoms of oligonucleotides using 12 B-DNA oligonucleotide crystal structures. The distribution of water molecules around the four bases, the sugar residues and the phosphate groups were generated and analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. These data have then been used in a knowledge-based method to generate the likely hydration sites around a canonical B-DNA conformation in order to generate models of use in track studies of radiation damage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Crystallography, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Umrania
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nikjoo
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Goodfellow
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004249:DNA Damage; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation
chemical_list: D004247:DNA