title: DNA-templated dimerization of hairpin polyamides.
abstract: Double-helical DNA accelerates the rate of ligation of two six-ring hairpin polyamides which bind adjacent sites in the minor groove via a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition to form a tandem dimer. The rate of the templated reaction is dependent on DNA sequence as well as on the distance between the hairpin-binding sites. The tandem dimer product of the DNA-templated reaction has improved binding properties with respect to the smaller hairpin fragments. Since cell and nuclear uptake of DNA-binding polyamides will likely be dependent on size, this is a minimum first step toward the design of self-assembling small gene-regulating fragments to produce molecules of increasing complexity with more specific genomic targeting capabilities.
authors.affiliation: Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
authors.forename: Adam T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Poulin-Kerstien
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Dervan
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018983:DNA Footprinting; D003850:Deoxyribonuclease I / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D019281:Dimerization; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D007700:Kinetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009757:Nylons / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D009757:Nylons; D004247:DNA; D003850:Deoxyribonuclease I