Controlled dehydration of a ruthenium complex-DNA crystal induces reversible DNA kinking

Hall, J. P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3716-4378, Sanchez-Weatherby, J., Alberti, C., Hurtado Quimper, C., O'Sullivan, K., Brazier, J. A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4952-584X, Winter, G., Sorensen, T., Kelly, J. M., Cardin, D. J. and Cardin, C. J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2556-9995 (2014) Controlled dehydration of a ruthenium complex-DNA crystal induces reversible DNA kinking. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 136 (50). pp. 17505-17512. ISSN 0002-7863 doi: 10.1021/ja508745x

Abstract/Summary

Hydration-dependent DNA deformation has been known since Rosalind Franklin recognised that the relative humidity of the sample had to be maintained to observe a single conformation in DNA fibre diffraction. We now report for the first time the crystal structure, at the atomic level, of a dehydrated form of a DNA duplex and demonstrate the reversible interconversion to the hydrated form at room temperature. This system, containing d(TCGGCGCCGA) in the presence of Λ-[Ru(TAP)2(dppz)]2+ (TAP = 1,4,5,8-tetraazaphenanthrene, dppz = dipyridophenazine), undergoes a partial transition from an A/B hybrid to the A-DNA conformation, at 84-79% relative humidity. This is accompanied by an increase in kink at the central step from 22° to 51°, with a large movement of the terminal bases forming the intercalation site. This transition is reversible on rehydration. Seven datasets, collected from one crystal at room temperature, show the consequences of dehydration at near-atomic resolution. This result highlights that crystals, traditionally thought of as static systems, are still dynamic and therefore can be the subject of further experimentation.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/40118
Identification Number/DOI	10.1021/ja508745x
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy > Department of Chemistry Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Chemical Analysis Facility (CAF) > Xray (CAF)
Publisher	American Chemical Society
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