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Updated: Aug 21, 2026

Atomic Force Microscopy Investigations of DNA Lesion Recognition in Nucleotide Excision Repair
Published on: May 24, 2017
Site-selective and hydrolytic two-strand scission of double-stranded DNA using Ce(IV)/EDTA and pseudo-complementary
Yoji Yamamoto1, Akihiko Uehara, Takafumi Tomita
1Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan. komiyama@mkomi.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Abstract:
By combining Ce(IV)/EDTA with two pseudo-complementary peptide nucleic acids (pcPNAs), both strands in double-stranded DNA were site-selectively hydrolyzed at the target site. Either plasmid DNA (4361 bp) or its linearized form was used as the substrate. When two pcPNAs invaded into the double-stranded DNA, only the designated portion in each of the two strands was free from Watson-Crick base pairing with the counterpart DNA or the pcPNA. Upon the treatment of this invasion complex with Ce(IV)/EDTA at 37 degrees C and pH 7.0, both of these single-stranded portions were selectively hydrolyzed at the designated site, resulting in the site-selective two-strand scission of the double-stranded DNA. Furthermore, the hydrolytic scission products were successfully connected with foreign double-stranded DNA by using ligase. The potential of these artificial systems for manipulation of huge DNA has been indicated.
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