Comparison of inter-proton distances in DNA models with nuclear overhauser enhancement data

Abstract

The conformational flexibility inherent in the polynucleotide chain plays an important role in deciding its three-dimensonal structure and enables it to undergo structural transitions in order to fulfil all its functions. Following certain stereochemical guidelines, both right and left handed double-helical models have been built in our laboratory and they are in reasonably good agreement with the fibre patterns for various polymorphous forms of DNA. Recently, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy has become an important technique for studying the solution conformation and polymorphism of nucleic acids. Several workers have used 1_H nuclear magnetic resonance nuclear Overhauser enhancement measurements to estimate the interproton distances for the various DNA oligomers and compared them with the-interproton distances for particular models of A and B form DNA. In some cases the solution conformation does not seem to fit either of these models. We have been studying various models for DNA with a view to exploring the full conformational space allowed for nucleic acid polymers. In this paper, the interproton distances calculated for the different stereochemically feasible models of DNA are presented and they are compared and correlated against those obtained from ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance nuclear Overhauser enhancement measurements of various nucleic acid oligomers.