title: Structure of a copper-mediated base pair in DNA.
abstract: Stable and selective DNA base pairing by metal coordination was recently demonstrated with nucleotides containing complementary pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate (Dipic) and pyridine (Py) bases (Meggers, E.; Holland, P. L.; Tolman; W. B.; Romesberg, F. E.; Schultz, P. G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 10714-10715). To understand the structural consequences of introducing this novel base pair into DNA we have solved the crystal structure of a duplex containing the metallo-base pair. The structure shows that the bases pair as designed, but in a Z-DNA conformation. The structure also provides a structural explanation for the B- to Z-DNA transition in this duplex. Further solution studies demonstrate that the metallo-base pair is compatible with Z- or B-DNA conformations, depending on the duplex sequence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Atwell
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Meggers
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Spraggon
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Schultz
mesh_terms: D020029:Base Pairing; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D010848:Picolinic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D011725:Pyridines / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D009841:Oligonucleotides; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D010848:Picolinic Acids; D011725:Pyridines; D003300:Copper; D004247:DNA; C023666:pyridine; C004860:dipicolinic acid