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Updated: Aug 25, 2026

Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA) for the Study of RNA-Protein Interactions: The IRE/IRP Example
Published on: December 3, 2014
[Possible role of iron ions in changes in composition of DNA complexes and their magnetic properties in cell cycle
Abstract:
A hypothesis on the possible role of iron cations in transformations of nucleoprotein complexes at certain stages of the cell cycle was formulated. The central idea of the hypothesis is the proposition that iron ions provide changes in the composition of complexes formed by phosphate groups of DNA, by substituting effectively the cationic amino groups of organic ligands in these complexes by the mechanism of competitive replacement of ligands. Then iron ions can be removed by changing the charge of iron ions bound to DNA during redox reactions and their transfer to mobile complexes or by the formation and subsequent removal of weakly charged magnetic nanoparticles of ferric oxides. These magnetic nanoparticles may be responsible for the magnetic effects in cells, e.g., broad ESR signals inherent in ferromagnetic systems. These magnetic effects were discovered in DNA preparations and in cell cultures at early stages of cell division by L.A. Blumenfeld and coworkers.
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