Crystallographic studies of DNA helix structure.
X-ray crystallography can reveal the three-dimensional structure of short fragments of DNA or RNA with unique precision. It provides information concerning both the global helical structure and the geometry of local features such as base-pair stacking patterns and backbone conformation. An analysis of the structures of a family of DNA decamers with related sequences, crystallizing in a number of different lattices, defines the ranges in which conformational parameters can vary in B-DNA helices and shows the correlations between them. Thus, these studies show the static structures and give insight into the mechanics of DNA helices by showing how a change of one local conformational parameter will influence others. Crystal structures are also used to assess the competing influences of nucleotide sequence and environment on the three-dimensional DNA structure. To extrapolate from DNA crystal structures to physical characteristics and function of these molecules in solution or embedded into a defined sequence context remains a major challenge.
Forschungsgruppe Kristallographie, Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin, Berlin, Germany.
U
U
Heinemann
C
C
Alings
M
M
Hahn
D001483:Base Sequence; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry
D009841:Oligonucleotides; D004247:DNA