Abstract
DNA curvature plays an important role in many biological
processes. To study environmentalinfluences on DNA curvature we
compared the anomalous migration on polyacrylamide gels ofligation
ladders of 11 specifically-designed oligonucleotides. At low
temperatures (25 degreesC and below) most of the sequences
exhibited a degree of anomalous migration. Increasedtemperature
had a significant effect on the anomalous migration (curvature) of
some sequencesbut limited effects on others; at 50 degrees C only
1 sequence migrated anomalously. Mg2+ hada strong influence on the
migration of certain sequences, whilst spermine enhanced
theanomalous migration of a different set of sequences. Sequences
with a GGC motif exhibitedgreater curvature than predicted by the
presently-used angles for the nearest-neighbour wedgemodel and are
especially sensitive to Mg2+. The data have implications for
models for DNAcurvature and for environmentally-sensitive DNA
conformations in the regulation of geneexpression.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 4 |
Pages (from-to) | 811-23 |
Publication status | Published - 1999 |