Quantitative analysis of the ion-dependent folding stability of DNA triplexes

Three's a crowd - stabilisation, structure, and applications of DNA triplexes

DNA is a strikingly flexible molecule and can form a variety of secondary structures, including the triple helix, which is the subject of this review. The DNA triplex may be formed naturally, during homologous recombination, or can be formed by the introduction of a synthetic triplex forming oligonucleotide (TFO) to a DNA duplex. As the TFO will bind to the duplex with sequence specificity, there is significant interest in developing TFOs with potential therapeutic applications, including using TFOs as a delivery mechanism for compounds able to modify or damage DNA. However, to combine triplexes with functionalised compounds, a full understanding of triplex structure and chemical modification strategies, which may increase triplex stability or in vivo degradation, is essential - these areas will be discussed in this review. Ruthenium polypyridyl complexes, which are able to photooxidise DNA and act as luminescent DNA probes, may serve as a suitable photophysical payload for a TFO system and the developments in this area in the context of DNA triplexes will also be reviewed.

Purine- and pyrimidine-triple-helix-forming oligonucleotides recognize qualitatively different target sites at the ribosomal DNA locus

Triplexes are noncanonical DNA structures, which are functionally associated with regulation of gene expression through ncRNA targeting to chromatin. Based on the rules of Hoogsteen base-pairing, polypurine sequences of a duplex can potentially form triplex structures with single-stranded oligonucleotides. Prediction of triplex-forming sequences by bioinformatics analyses have revealed enrichment of potential triplex targeting sites (TTS) at regulatory elements, mainly in promoters and enhancers, suggesting a potential function of RNA-DNA triplexes in transcriptional regulation. Here, we have quantitatively evaluated the potential of different sequences of human and mouse ribosomal RNA genes (rDNA) to form triplexes at different salt and pH conditions. We show by biochemical and biophysical approaches that some of these predicted sequences form triplexes with high affinity, following the canonical rules for triplex formation. We further show that RNA triplex-forming oligos (TFOs) are more stable than their DNA counterpart, and point mutations strongly affect triplex formation. We further show differential sequence requirements of pyrimidine and purine TFO sequences for efficient binding, depending on the G-C content of the TTS. The unexpected sequence specificity, revealing distinct sequence requirements for purine and pyrimidine TFOs, shows that in addition to the Hoogsteen pairing rules, a sequence code and mutations have to be taken into account to predict genomic TTS.

Charge evolution during the unfolding of a single DNA i-motif

The effective charge and evolution of single chains of a DNA i-motif during its unfolding process are investigated at the single molecule level. Using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and photon counting histograms, the single chain dimensions and electrical potential of cytosine-rich human telomeric oligonucleotides are monitored, during their unfolding from the i-motif to the random coil state. It is discovered that the effective charge density of the DNA chain is very sensitive to conformation changes and the results remarkably expose the existence of an intermediate state of the unfolding process. A huge difference in pH value exists in the vicinity of the DNA chain and the bulk solution, depending on the salt concentration, as reflected by a down-shift in the pH value of unfolding. The presence of an external salt in the solution helps to stabilize the i-motif structure at low pH values due to the reduction of the effective charge density. It can also destabilize the folded structure in the pH range of the conformation transition due to the elevation of the local pH value, encouraging the deprotonation of the cytosine groups. These results provide new information for understanding the structure and stability of i-motif DNA, and its biological function, as well as the building blocks for smart nanomaterials.

NALDB: nucleic acid ligand database for small molecules targeting nucleic acid

Nucleic acid ligand database (NALDB) is a unique database that provides detailed information about the experimental data of small molecules that were reported to target several types of nucleic acid structures. NALDB is the first ligand database that contains ligand information for all type of nucleic acid. NALDB contains more than 3500 ligand entries with detailed pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic information such as target name, target sequence, ligand 2D/3D structure, SMILES, molecular formula, molecular weight, net-formal charge, AlogP, number of rings, number of hydrogen bond donor and acceptor, potential energy along with their K_i, K_d, IC₅₀ values. All these details at single platform would be helpful for the development and betterment of novel ligands targeting nucleic acids that could serve as a potential target in different diseases including cancers and neurological disorders. With maximum 255 conformers for each ligand entry, our database is a multi-conformer database and can facilitate the virtual screening process. NALDB provides powerful web-based search tools that make database searching efficient and simplified using option for text as well as for structure query. NALDB also provides multi-dimensional advanced search tool which can screen the database molecules on the basis of molecular properties of ligand provided by database users. A 3D structure visualization tool has also been included for 3D structure representation of ligands. NALDB offers an inclusive pharmacological information and the structurally flexible set of small molecules with their three-dimensional conformers that can accelerate the virtual screening and other modeling processes and eventually complement the nucleic acid-based drug discovery research. NALDB can be routinely updated and freely available on bsbe.iiti.ac.in/bsbe/naldb/HOME.php.

Database URL:http://bsbe.iiti.ac.in/bsbe/naldb/HOME.php

RNA folding: structure prediction, folding kinetics and ion electrostatics

Beyond the "traditional" functions such as gene storage, transport and protein synthesis, recent discoveries reveal that RNAs have important "new" biological functions including the RNA silence and gene regulation of riboswitch. Such functions of noncoding RNAs are strongly coupled to the RNA structures and proper structure change, which naturally leads to the RNA folding problem including structure prediction and folding kinetics. Due to the polyanionic nature of RNAs, RNA folding structure, stability and kinetics are strongly coupled to the ion condition of solution. The main focus of this chapter is to review the recent progress in the three major aspects in RNA folding problem: structure prediction, folding kinetics and ion electrostatics. This chapter will introduce both the recent experimental and theoretical progress, while emphasize the theoretical modelling on the three aspects in RNA folding.

Quantifying Coulombic and solvent polarization-mediated forces between DNA helices

One of the fundamental problems in nucleic acids biophysics is to predict the different forces that stabilize nucleic acid tertiary folds. Here we provide a quantitative estimation and analysis for the forces between DNA helices in an ionic solution. Using the generalized Born model and the improved atomistic tightly binding ions model, we evaluate ion correlation and solvent polarization effects in interhelix interactions. The results suggest that hydration, Coulomb correlation and ion entropy act together to cause the repulsion and attraction between nucleic acid helices in Mg(2+) and Mn(2+) solutions, respectively. The theoretical predictions are consistent with experimental findings. Detailed analysis further suggests that solvent polarization and ion correlation both are crucial for the interhelix interactions. The theory presented here may provide a useful framework for systematic and quantitative predictions of the forces in nucleic acids folding.