Molecular recognition of pyrimidine nucleobases by triplex DNA receptors.
Triplex DNA receptors are known for their strong and specific binding of a variety of purine ligands. However, not many studies have been reported on their binding of pyrimidine ligands. Here we used fluorophore-labeled DNA receptors to study these binding interactions. The results suggest that in general, cytosine binds more strongly than thymine and uracil, although the selectivity between two pyrimidine ligands can be tuned by changing the surrounding nucleobases of the DNA receptor. In contrast, binding of pyrimidine nucleosides is much weaker, possibly due to lack of the N1 hydrogen bonding donor.
Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, United States.
Zixing
Z
Zhuang
Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, United States.
Rui
R
Pan
Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, United States.
Qian
Q
Zhang
Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, United States. Electronic address: haidong.huang@njit.edu.
Haidong
H
Huang
D001665:Binding Sites / Q000187:drug effects; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D008024:Ligands; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000737:chemistry*; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000737:chemistry*
C033365:DNA receptor; D008024:Ligands; D011743:Pyrimidines; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; C051802:triplex DNA; D004247:DNA
Binding; DNA receptors; Fluorescence