The rational design of sequence-specific DNA minor groove binders using a 2:1 motif

For successful DNA replication, the unwinding of double-stranded DNA must be accompanied by stabilization and protection of the separated single strands of the DNA. This crucial task is performed by single-strand DNA-binding (SSB) proteins. They bind to the DNA in a sequence-independent manner, which means that the nitrogenous bases of the DNA need not be present in a specific order for binding of SSB proteins to it. The binding of SSB proteins straightens single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and makes...

Transcriptional regulators bind to specific cis-regulatory sequences in the DNA to regulate gene transcription. These cis-regulatory sequences are very short, usually less than ten nucleotide pairs in length. The short length means that there is a high probability of the exact same sequence randomly occurring throughout the genome.  Since regulators can also bind to groups of similar sequences, this further increases the chances of random binding. Transcriptional regulators form dimers that...

In the same year as the discovery of the Sanger sequencing method, another group of scientists, Allan Maxam and Walter Gilbert, demonstrated their chemical-cleavage method for DNA sequencing. The Maxam-Gilbert method relies on using different chemicals that can cleave the DNA sequence at specific sites, the separation of resulting DNA fragments of variable size using electrophoresis, and deciphering the DNA sequence from the resulting gel bands.
Challenges of the Maxam-Gilbert Method
The...

Many proteins’ biological role depends on their interactions with their ligands, small molecules that bind to specific locations on the protein known as ligand-binding sites. Ligand-binding sites are often conserved among homologous proteins as these sites are critical for protein function.
Binding sites are often located in large pockets, and if their location on a protein’s surface is unknown, it can be predicted using various approaches. The energetic method computationally analyses the...

Erwin Chargaff’s rules on DNA equivalence paved the way for the discovery of base pairing in DNA. Chargaff’s rules state that in a double-stranded DNA molecule,

Cis-regulatory sequences are short fragments of non-coding DNA that are present on the same chromosomes as the genes that they regulate. These fragments serve as binding sites for transcriptional regulators, proteins that are responsible for controlling gene transcription and differential gene expression across cell types in eukaryotes. Cis-regulatory sequences can be close to the gene of interest or thousands of bases away in the DNA sequence; however, those sequences that are further away are...