title: Reinforced HNA backbone hydration in the crystal structure of a decameric HNA/RNA hybrid.
abstract: The crystal structure of a decameric HNA/RNA (HNA = 2',3'-dideoxy-1',5'-anhydro-d-arabinohexitol nucleic acid) hybrid with the RNA sequence 5'-GGCAUUACGG-3' is the first crystal structure of a hybrid duplex between a naturally occurring nucleic acid and a strand, which is fully modified to contain a six-membered ring instead of ribose. The presence of four duplex helices in the asymmetric unit allows for a detailed discussion of hydration, which revealed a tighter spinelike backbone hydration for the HNA- than for the RNA-strands. The reinforced backbone hydration is suggested to contribute significantly to the exceptional stability of HNA-containing duplexes and might be one of the causes for the evolutionary preference for ribose-derived nucleic acids.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie der Freien Universität Berlin, Takustrasse 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Timm
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Przylas
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Strater
authors.forename: Piet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Herdewijn
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Saenger
mesh_terms: D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D008958:Models, Molecular; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009692:Nucleic Acid Heteroduplexes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D009705:Nucleosides / Q000737:chemistry; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D012996:Solutions; D013402:Sugar Alcohols / Q000737:chemistry*; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D009692:Nucleic Acid Heteroduplexes; D009705:Nucleosides; D012996:Solutions; D013402:Sugar Alcohols; D014867:Water; D012313:RNA