Monitoring DNA dynamics using spin-labels with different independent mobilities

The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of spin-labeled DNA duplexes, both bound to DEAE-Sephadex and free in solution, have been analyzed. The nitroxide spin-labels are covalently linked to a deoxyuridine residue using either a monoacetylene or diacetylene tether. This difference in tether length produces a dramatic difference in the independent mobility of the nitroxide relative to the DNA. In the case of the monoacetylene tether, the motion of the nitroxide has previously been shown to be tightly coupled to that of the DNA duplex. With the diacetylene tether, there is considerable independent motion of the probe. The diacetylene tether is intended to minimize the possibility of the nitroxide producing a perturbation of the dynamics of DNA. It is demonstrated here that, when coupled via the diacetylene tether, the nitroxide undergoes a rapid uniaxial rotation about the tether. A detailed analysis of the EPR spectrum of duplex DNA in solution, spin-labeled using the diacetylene tether, demonstrates that the motion of the nitroxide can be modeled in terms of this independent uniaxial rotation together with motion of the DNA which is consistent with the global tumbling of the duplex. As was previously found using the monoacetylene tether, there is no evidence of rapid, large-amplitude motions of the base pair in the EPR spectrum of a nitroxide coupled to duplex DNA via the diacetylene tether. This result confirms the small amplitudes of internal motion, local and collective, previously observed in duplex DNA with the monoacetylene-tethered nitroxide.