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Updated: Aug 12, 2026

Analyzing and Building Nucleic Acid Structures with 3DNA
Published on: April 26, 2013
Global mapping of nucleic acid conformational space: dinucleoside monophosphate conformations and transition pathways
1Department of Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Abstract:
A global conformational space of 6253 dinucleoside monophosphate (DMP) units consisting of RNA and DNA (free and protein/drug-bound) was 'mapped' using high resolution crystal structures cataloged in the Nucleic Acid Database (NDB). The torsion angles of each DMP were clustered in a reduced three-dimensional space using a classical multi-dimensional scaling method. The mapping of the conformational space reveals nine primary clusters which distinguish among the common A-, B- and Z-forms and their various substates, plus five secondary clusters for kinked or bent structures. Conformational relationships and possible transitional pathways among the substates are also examined using the conformational states of DNA and RNA bound with proteins or drugs as potential pathway intermediates.
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