Highly structured water network in crystals of a deoxydinucleoside---drug complex

X-ray diffraction analysis of crystals of the intercalative complex between the deoxyribonucleoside phosphate d(CpG) and the mutagen proflavine shows a highly structured arrangement of water molecules linked together by newtworks of hydrogen bonds to form four edge-linked pentagons per asymmetric unit. These pentagons have a general role in maximizing hydrogen bonding at 3.4-A intervals. The conformation of the deoxyribose sugar ring at the 3' end of one strand can depend on its local aqueous environment.