What Does Ectoine Do to DNA? A Molecular-Scale Picture of Compatible Solute-Biopolymer Interactions

Compatible solutes accumulate in the cytoplasm of halophilic microorganisms, enabling their survival in a high-salinity environment. Ectoine is such a compatible solute. It is a zwitterionic molecule that strongly interacts with surrounding water molecules and changes the dynamics of the local hydration shell. Ectoine interacts with biomolecules such as lipids, proteins, and DNA. The molecular interaction between ectoine and biomolecules, in particular the interaction between ectoine and DNA, is far from being understood. In this paper, we describe molecular aspects of the interaction between ectoine and double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). Two 20 base pairs-long dsDNA fragments were immobilized on a gold surface via a thiol-tether. The interaction between the dsDNA monolayers with diluted and concentrated ectoine solutions was examined by means of X-ray photoelectron and polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopies (PM IRRAS). Experimental results indicate that the ability of ectoine to bind water reduces the strength of hydrogen bonds formed to the ribose-phosphate backbone in the dsDNA. In diluted (0.1 M) ectoine solution, DNA interacts predominantly with water molecules. The sugar-phosphate backbone is involved in the formation of strong hydrogen bonds to water, which, over time, leads to a reorientation of the planes of nucleic acid bases. This reorientation destabilizes the strength of hydrogen bonds between the bases and leads to a partial dehybridization of the dsDNA. In concentrated ectoine solution (2.5 M), almost all water molecules interact with ectoine. Under this condition, ectoine is able to interact directly with DNA. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrate that the direct interaction involves the nitrogen atoms in ectoine and phosphate groups in the DNA molecule. The results of the quantum-chemical calculations show that rearrangements in the ribose-phosphate backbone, caused by a direct interaction with ectoine, facilitates contacts between the O atom in the phosphate group and H atoms in a nucleic acid base. In the PM IRRA spectra, an increase in the number of IR absorption modes in the base pair frequency region proves that the hydrogen bonds between bases become weaker. Thus, a sequence of reorientations caused by interaction with ectoine leads to a breakdown of hydrogen bonds between bases in the double helix.