Structure of a stereoregular phosphorothioate DNA/RNA duplex
M Bachelin1, G Hessler, G Kurz
1Institut für Organische Chemie und Biochemie, TU München, Garching, Germany.
Abstract:
In this work, we present the first NMR solution structure of a DNA/RNA hybrid containing stereoregular Rp-phosphorothioate modifications of all DNA backbone linkages. The complex of the enzymatically synthesized phosphorothioate DNA octamer (all-Rp)-d(GCGTCAGG) and its complementary RNA r(CCUGACGC) was found to adopt an overall conformation within the A-form family. Most helical parameters and the sugar puckers of the DNA strand assume values intermediate between A- and B-form. The close structural similarity with the unmodified DNA/RNA hybrid of the same sequence may explain why both the natural and the sulfur-substituted complex can be recognized and digested by ribonuclease H.
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