Simple, efficient protocol for enzymatic synthesis of uniformly 13C, 15N-labeled DNA for heteronuclear NMR studies

The use of uniformly 13C,15N-labeled RNA has greatly facilitated structural studies of RNA oligonucleotides by NMR. Application of similar methodologies for the study of DNA has been limited, primarily due to the lack of adequate methods for sample preparation. Methods for both chemical and enzymatic synthesis of DNA oligonucleotides uniformly labeled with 13C and/or 15N have been published, but have not yet been widely used. We have developed a modified procedure for preparing uniformly 13C,15N-labeled DNA based on enzymatic synthesis using Taq DNA polymerase. The highly efficient protocol results in quantitative polymerization of the template and approximately 80% incorporation of the labeled dNTPs. Procedures for avoiding non-templated addition of nucleotides or for their removal are given. The method has been used to synthesize several DNA oligonucleotides, including two complementary 15 base strands, a 32 base DNA oligonucleotide that folds to form an intramolecular triplex and a 12 base oligonucleotide that dimerizes and folds to form a quadruplex. Heteronuclear NMR spectra of the samples illustrate the quality of the labeled DNA obtained by these procedures.