NMR studies of tris-intercalation: solution structure and interaction of d(CTTCGCGCGAAG) with an acridine trimer

Tris-intercalation of an acridine trimer into the self-complementary dodecanucleotide d(CTTCGCGCGAAG) has been studied, in solution, by means of 1H and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance. In a first step all the non-exchangeable protons (except H5', H5"), the imino protons and seven of the eleven phosphorus have been assigned. The dodecanucleotide is shown to adopt a double helical B-type structure. Most of the sugar puckers are in the O1'endo range, those of the internal guanosines being closer to C2'endo. Deviations from the canonical B structure are observed in the base stacking and the phosphodiester torsional angles at the 3T4C5G stretch. The addition of an acridine trimer to the base-paired dodecanucleotide leads to the conclusion that the trimer, which is in slow exchange at the NMR time scale, tris-intercalates into the three C(3'-5')G sites of the central core, according to the excluded site model. This is evidenced by the large (1.4 ppm) upfield shift experienced by the imino protons of the three internal guanines and the shielding undergone by the acridine ring protons. Tris-intercalation is also supported by the downfield shift experienced by 6 out of the 22 phosphorus. Two of them are shifted by nearly 2 ppm, a shift range reported for oligonucleotides complexed to actinomycin D; this suggests that the structure of the backbone of the dodecanucleotide is altered.