Sequence Specific Recognition of Double Helical DNA. A Synthetic Approach

Alternative heterocycles for DNA recognition: an N-methylpyrazole/N-methylpyrrole pair specifies for A.T/T.A base pairs

Side-by-side pairs of three five-membered rings, N-methylpyrrole (Py), N-methylimidazole (Im), and N-methylhydroxy-pyrrole (Hp), have been demonstrated to distinguish each of the four Watson Crick base pairs in the minor groove of DNA. However, not all DNA sequences targeted by these pairing rules achieve affinities and specificities comparable to DNA binding proteins. We have initiated a search for new heterocycles which can expand the sequence repetoire currently available. Two heterocyclic aromatic amino acids. N-methylpyrazole (Pz) and 4-methylthiazole (Th), were incorporated into a single position of an eight-ring polyamide of sequence ImImXPy-gamma-lmPyPyPy-beta-Dp to examine the modulation of affinity and specificity for DNA binding by a Pz/Py pair and or a Th/Py pair. The X/Py pairings Pz/Py and Th/Py were evaluated by quantitative DNase I footprint titrations on a DNA fragment with the four sites 5'-TGGNCA-3' (N=T, A, G, C). The Pz/Py pair binds T.A and A.T with similar affinity to a Py/Py pair but with improved specificity. disfavoring both G.C and C.G by about 100-fold. The Th/Py pair binds poorly to all four Watson Crick base pairs. These results demonstrate that in some instances new heterocyclic aromatic amino acid pairs can be incorporated into imidazole-pyrrole polyamides to mimic the DNA specificity of Py/Py pairs which may be relevant as biological criteria in animal studies become important.

Site-specific cleavage of human chromosome 4 mediated by triple-helix formation

Direct physical isolation of specific DNA segments from the human genome is a necessary goal in human genetics. For testing whether triple-helix mediated enzymatic cleavage can liberate a specific segment of a human chromosome, the tip of human chromosome 4, which contains the entire candidate region for the Huntington's disease gene, was chosen as a target. A 16-base pyrimidine oligodeoxyribonucleotide was able to locate a 16-base pair purine target site within more than 10 gigabase pairs of genomic DNA and mediate the exact enzymatic cleavage at that site in more than 80 percent yield. The recognition motif is sufficiently generalizable that most cosmids should contain a sequence targetable by triple-helix formation. This method may facilitate the orchestrated dissection of human chromosomes from normal and affected individuals into megabase sized fragments and facilitate the isolation of candidate gene loci.

Local supercoil-stabilized DNA structures

The DNA double helix exhibits local sequence-dependent polymorphism at the level of the single base pair and dinucleotide step. Curvature of the DNA molecule occurs in DNA regions with a specific type of nucleotide sequence periodicities. Negative supercoiling induces in vitro local nucleotide sequence-dependent DNA structures such as cruciforms, left-handed DNA, multistranded structures, etc. Techniques based on chemical probes have been proposed that make it possible to study DNA local structures in cells. Recent results suggest that the local DNA structures observed in vitro exist in the cell, but their occurrence and structural details are dependent on the DNA superhelical density in the cell and can be related to some cellular processes.

Site-specific cleavage of a yeast chromosome by oligonucleotide-directed triple-helix formation

Oligonucleotides equipped with EDTA-Fe can bind specifically to duplex DNA by triple-helix formation and produce double-strand cleavage at binding sites greater than 12 base pairs in size. To demonstrate that oligonucleotide-directed triple-helix formation is a viable chemical approach for the site-specific cleavage of large genomic DNA, an oligonucleotide with EDTA-Fe at the 5' and 3' ends was targeted to a 20-base pair sequence in the 340-kilobase pair chromosome III of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Double-strand cleavage products of the correct size and location were observed, indicating that the oligonucleotide bound and cleaved the target site among almost 14 megabase pairs of DNA. Because oligonucleotide-directed triple-helix formation has the potential to be a general solution for DNA recognition, this result has implications for physical mapping of chromosomes.

1H NMR studies of tris(phenanthroline) metal complexes bound to oligonucleotides: characterization of binding modes

The binding of Ru(phen)3(2+), Rh(phen)3(3+), and Co(phen)3(3+) to the oligonucleotides d(GTGCAC)2 and 5'-pd(CGCGCG)2 has been examined by 1H NMR spectroscopy as a function of temperature, concentration, and chirality of the metal complex. The duplex oligonucleotides act as chiral shift reagents for the metal complexes; phenanthroline protons associated with each enantiomer are resolved upon binding to the oligomer. The spectral titrations, consistent with photophysical studies, indicate that the complexes bind to the oligomer through two modes: one assigned as intercalation favoring the delta-isomer, and the other assigned as the surface-bound interaction favoring the lambda-isomer. The ligand protons are perturbed in a manner that implies sensitivity of particular protons to binding mode; specifically, the H4,7 protons appear to be altered most for the lambda-enantiomer while the H5,6 protons are perturbed more for the delta-enantiomer. The NMR chemical shift variations appear particularly sensitive to this surface-bound interaction, which, on the basis of a comparison of binding and photophysical parameters for Ru(phen)3(2+), appears more prominant in binding to oligonucleotides than that to polynucleotides. With respect to oligonucleotide proton shifts, the adenine H2 proton, positioned in the minor groove of the helix, shows the largest upfield shifts with metal binding, and more dramatically with lambda-isomers. The major groove thymine methyl protons (TMe) shift downfield to a lesser extent, and more so for delta-isomers. The different binding modes also differ with respect to their dynamics of association; the longitudinal relaxation rates of delta- and lambda-4,7 phenanthroline protons of Rh(phen)3(3+) are 0.88 and 1.14 s, respectively, in the presence of d(GTGCAC)2.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Recognition of thymine adenine.base pairs by guanine in a pyrimidine triple helix motif

Oligonucleotide recognition offers a powerful chemical approach for the sequence-specific binding of double-helical DNA. In the pyrimidine-Hoogsteen model, a binding size of greater than 15 homopurine base pairs affords greater than 30 discrete sequence-specific hydrogen bonds to duplex DNA. Because pyrimidine oligonucleotides limit triple helix formation to homopurine tracts, it is desirable to determine whether oligonucleotides can be used to bind all four base pairs of DNA. A general solution would allow targeting of oligonucleotides (or their analogs) to any given sequence in the human genome. A study of 20 base triplets reveals that the triple helix can be extended from homopurine to mixed sequences. Guanine contained within a pyrimidine oligonucleotide specifically recognizes thymine.adenine base pairs in duplex DNA. Such specificity allows binding at mixed sites in DNA from simian virus 40 and human immunodeficiency virus.